Georgia Tech Uses Late Run To Down Women's Basketball, 57-43, In Atlanta Marriott Holiday Invitational Championship Game

Dec. 31, 2005

ATLANTA, Ga. - Georgia Tech (11-1) closed out the game on a 16-3 run to defeat Massachusetts (3-8), 57-43, in the championship game of the Atlanta Marriott Northwest Holiday Invitational Saturday afternoon at the Alexander Coliseum. UMass led by as many as nine points in the first half, but was out-scored 38-20 in the second half. Sophomore Pam Rosanio (Southampton, Pa.) led the Minutewomen with 12 points en route to All-Tournament team honors. Sophomore Kate Mills (Elkton, Md.) joined Rosanio on the All-Tournament squad.

UMass began the game hitting on three of its first five three-pointers and was able to take a 9-2 lead four minutes into the game. Nelson opened the game with a trifecta, while Sharpton connected on two straight moments later. UMass ran its lead up to nine points at 14-5 at the 13:00-minute mark, before the Yellow Jackets began to heat up from the outside. They scored five in a row before another Nelson triple increased the UMass lead back up to seven at 17-10. The teams then exchanged baskets and UMass held a 19-12 lead with 7:18 left. UMass began the game hitting 5-for-7 (.710) from three-point range, but was 0-for-10 on two-pointers. A lay-up by sophomore Whitney McDonald (Ossining, N.Y.) at the 4:21 mark was UMass' first two-point field goal.

Georgia Tech began chipping away and cut the UMass lead down to four points, 23-19, at halftime. The UMass defense held the Yellow Jackets to a season-low in points for any half this season. UMass shot 30 percent (6-for-20) from the field, while Georgia Tech was 26 percent (8-for-31). The Minutewomen were out-rebounded 22-16 and shot 6-for-8 (.750) from the field. Both teams committed 11 turnovers while the Yellow Jackets did not attempt a free throw.

The Jackets started the second half by scoring the first three points to get within one point at 23-22. It was as close as they had been since it was 3-0 early in the game. The Minutewomen hung tough and got the lead back to four points, 29-25, but a 10-4 run by Georgia Tech in the next three minutes gave it the first lead of the game. Georgia Tech held a 35-33 lead with 11:17 remaining in the second half.

UMass re-took the lead 36-35 on a free throw by Tamara Tatham, but back-to-back three-pointers by Georgia Tech gave it a 41-36 lead, its largest of the game, at the 8:09 mark and forced the Minutewomen to call a timeout. UMass hung tough and cut the deficit down to a point, but the Yellow Jackets came back with an 11-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 52-40 with just under four minutes left. UMass went scoreless for a four-minute stretch and was held without a field goal for five minutes late and the Yellow Jackets capitalized for the game-clinching run.

UMass and Georgia Tech both shot 32 percent from the field for the game. UMass was 0-for-5 from three-point range in the second half after going 5-for-7 in the first half. The Yellow Jackets dominated on the glass, 41-25. UMass finished the game with 22 turnovers while Georgia Tech had 17. The Jackets had just five of them in the second half, however.

Rosanio's 12 points marked UMass' lone double-figure scorer. Mills had eight points and five boards, while Nelson and Sharpton each added eight points apiece. Jill Ingram led the Yellow Jackets with 18 points.

Massachusetts will open up the new year as well as Atlantic 10 Conference play Tuesday night when they host Dayton at the Mullins Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 PM and the game will be broadcast live on WMUA, 91.1 FM in Amherst and online at www.umassathletics.com. For tickets, please call 1-866-UMASS-TIX or purchase them online at www.umassathletics.com. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Mullins Center Box Office.

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