NC State women's basketball scouting report: Georgia Tech
NC State picked up arguably the most important win of its season Sunday when it defeated No. 7 Notre Dame at Reynolds Coliseum. After the extremely brief return to its home court, the No. 15 Wolfpack hit the road again this week for a matchup with Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
The Yellow Jackets have struggled mightily this season and currently sit second-to-last in the ACC with a 7-14 overall record and just 2 wins in conference play. With that said, the program has won two of its past three matchups, with the most recent victory against Clemson last Thursday. Both wins were on their home court.
Nell Fortner is Georgia Tech’s head coach, and she is in the middle of her fourth year with the team.
The ACC Network will broadcast the matchup, with tip off scheduled for 8 p.m. EST.
Three Notre Dame players to watch
1) Tonie Morgan
Tonie Morgan is one of the best freshman guards in the ACC. She ranks third on the team in scoring at 9.5 points per game, second in rebounding with 5.5 boards per game and leads the program in assists by a comfortable margin with 66.
At 5-9, the guard received ACC Rookie of the Week honors Jan. 23 after averaging 15.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game during games against Syracuse and North Carolina. Just a few days later, she recorded 12 assists in a win against Clemson— tied for the third-most by an ACC athlete this season.
2) Cameron Swartz
After spending the majority of her collegiate career at Boston College and Colorado, Cameron Swartz transferred to Georgia Tech and now leads the team in scoring at 12.7 points per game. The 5-11 guard was the 2022 ACC Most Improved Player. During lone season with the Yellow Jackets, she has taken the most shots of anyone on the team and by far the most threes at 117.
3) Bianca Jackson
Bianca Jackson transferred from Florida State to Georgia Tech after starting her career at South Carolina. She is the team’s second-leading scorer at 10.8 points per game but did not play in the team’s recent win over Clemson. Her scoring presence would likely be a needed boost to the team going up against NC State’s defense.
Two storylines that could impact the game
1) Georgia Tech’s defense is better than its record suggests
Even though the Yellow Jackets have only won two ACC contests, that lack of success has nothing to do with the team’s effort defensively. Georgia Tech boasts the No. 6 scoring defense in the conference, 1 spot above NC State, at 60.3 points allowed per game.
The program reached that impressive mark by completely shutting down the perimeter, holding opponents to just 27-percent shooting from three— the lowest percentage in the ACC. NC State will have to make plays on the interior, which the Pack often has in recent games, to leave Atlanta with a win.
2) The Yellow Jackets are the ACC’s worst three-point shooting team
To contrast the team’s elite perimeter defense, Georgia Tech is the conference’s worst-shooting program from deep, making just 88 threes this year. Notre Dame is the next-closest team with 98. Their shooting percentage is not much better, at 28.1 percent, which is also last in the ACC.
One Prediction: NC State 71, Georgia Tech 55
NC State did a tremendous job of slowing down Notre Dame’s interior-focused offense on Sunday and, if the Wolfpack can limit opportunities in the paint once again, this should be a comfortable win on the road.
