Lady J's: Game 28 at Pitt, Feb. 25 Thu., 7pm (ESPN-3)

[GTJT622]

The Lady J's have positioned themselves well for the 7-seed at the A.C.C.T. if they can win these next 2 games. Wake comes to town for Senior Day on the final day of the regular season this upcoming weekend. But first, the LJ's travel to Pitt to take on a 12-15/4-10 Panthers team, who is on a 2-game winning streak having beaten both the Hokies and Cheaters on the road (and both by double digit margins).

Pitt defeated Tech last year in Atlanta in overtime by 3 pts. Tech won at Pitt 2 years ago by 11. The visiting team has won all 3 in the all-time series (Pitt won in Atlanta back in '99).

The additionally impressive thing about Tech winning at a struggling Duke this past Sunday was that the A.C.C.'s leading scorer, Aaliyah Whiteside, didn't have her normal 20 point scoring tally. Getting 20 from Peresson and then 12 and 11 from Kat and Rogers was huge. Teams have been smothering Aaliyah of late and though she has still managed to score, it is great to see others stepping up as they should be getting some open looks...and, they need to take the opportunities when they arise. Whiteside has 1,470 career points scored and will get over that 1,500 mark likely by her upcoming Senior Day Sunday vs. Wake.

Pitt started out the A.C.C. schedule 0-6 against a very tough schedule (similar to ours). Since then, they are 4-4. So, this is not a team who has thrown in the towel to this season. Duke having Senior Day this past Sunday did not do anything for them. Thursday will be Pitt's last home game, but there is no "Senior Day" other than maybe the team managers because the Panthers have no seniors on their roster. A very young team indeed. Oddly, Pitt is 0-7 at home vs the A.C.C., while 4-3 away from home. Here's hoping the Lady J's can keep that look going in Pittsburgh.

Pitt is led by 6'0" Freshman Guard Brenna Wise, who is the lone double digit scorer at 10.3 ppg. Closely behind her are 6'2" Soph. Forward Stasha Carey at 9.9 and 5'10" Soph. Forward Yacine Diop from Senegal.

The game will be streamed live via ESPN-3 and Beesball Richard will have the call as usual via WREK.

Go Lady Jackets!!

 

[GTJT622]

Game preview courtesy rr.com... http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/022416aaa.html

 

[GTJT622]

An eye on the A.C.C. WBB Tournament seeds and games to scoreboard watch...

1. Notre Dame (14-0) - go ahead and pencil them in with a perfect 16-0 record...they are 14-0 and only have the bottom 2 teams left on the schedule: at Clemson tonight and then hosting BC this weekend.

2. Louisville (13-1) - they have a tough game tonight at Miami, but should win at home against Pitt and they already have a 2 game lead and tie breaker advantages over closest contenders so go ahead and pencil them in as the #2 seed

3. Syracuse (12-3) - their last game is tonight at BC in a game they should win and finish 13-3 in the league...the only team who could get to 13-3 also in the league is FSU and Cuse already has the tie breaker over the Noles having beat them in their lone meeting this year...go ahead and pencil the Orange in as the #3 seed

4 thru 6 - this is where it gets more interesting...we know these will be filled by 3 teams - FSU (11-3), Miami (10-4) and NC State (9-5). NC State hosts FSU tonight. FSU hosts Miami this upcoming weekend in the season finale. Miami host Louisville in a big game tonight.

7. The Lady J's (6-8) will claim this spot with wins tonight at Pitt and over Wake at home Sunday. Just going to be optimistic and hope this happens.

8 thru 10 - Duke (7-8) is off tonight and finishes up at The Cheaters Sunday...Wake (6-8) has a very winnable game at home tonight versus the Hokies before traveling to Atlanta Sunday...the French (5-9) host the Cheaters tonight and travel to Blacksburg Sunday (who they lost to by 20 at home a couple of weeks ago)

11 thru 13 - this likely comes down to whether Pitt (4-10) can win tonight at home over G.T. and/or the Cheaters (4-10) can scratch a W at Virginia or at home over Duke...Pitt won't win their season finale at Louisville...Pitt has the tie breaker head-to-head over the Cheaters if they end in a tie...the Hokies (3-11) could move up to 11 if they can upset Wake tonight in Winston and then beat the French at home (while Pitt & Cheaters lose remaining games) though unlikely and they'll most likely be in the 12-13 game

14. BC (2-12) - go ahead and pencil them in at #14

15. Clemson (0-14) - go ahead and pencil them in (both MBB [BC] and WBB could have teams who go winless in the A.C.C. this season)

Here's how I think it will wind up...

1. Notre Dame ------------------------8 Duke vs 9 France

*******************************************************************************

4. Florida State -----------------------5 Miami ---------------------12 Pitt vs 13 Va Tech

*******************************************************************************

2. Louisville -----------------------7 Ga Tech --------------------10 Wake vs 15 Clemson

*******************************************************************************

3. Syracuse ----------------------6 NC State --------------------11 Cheaters vs 14 BC

 

[GTJT622]

Another sloppy 1Q. Tech up 12-10. Kat hit a 3 at the buzzer. Hopefully, the LJ's will take control and look better offensively here before halftime.

 

[Buzzforlife]

22-12, is a little better.

 

[GTJT622]

Good Gals up 31-18 at the half. Kat hit some big shots. Tilford with some key points to bust the lead out. Zaire very active offensively. Much better.

 

[Buzzforlife]

Live Stats. on RamblinWreck dot com, does not show Fortune but Garner is back:

PLAYER STATSTEAM STATS
ON COURT
PTS
REB
AST
PF
Vuckovic,Katarina
10 0 0 1
Tilford,Imani
6 1 1 1
Peresson,Antonia
3 0 1 2
Whiteside,Aaliyah
2 1 1 0
Rogers,Roddreka
0 5 1 1
BENCH
PTS
REB
AST
PF
O'Neil,Zaire
10 6 1 1
Cryor,Ciani
0 1 2 0
Garner,Erin
0 0 0 0
Avram,Simina
0 0 0 0
Guimaraes,Chelsea
0 0 0 0
Gari,Irene
0 0 0 0
Grey,Julia
0 0 0 0
Howard,Dejoria
0 0 0 0

 

[Buzzforlife]

When Kat. hits double figures, we are 11-1.

 

[GTJT622]

I love seeing Tilford more aggressive offensively and looking to score. The team feeds off of it. She's got to do that.

 

[GTJT622]

Self destruction down the stretch. Yuck.

 

[GTJT622]

Good win. Way to go, Lady J's!!

Come on home and finish off another super February.

 

[GTJT622]

Hokies defeating Wake tonight in a mild upset. Doesn't really matter though. Beat Wake Sunday and we get the 7-seed.

 

[GTJT622]

A.C.C.T. seeding updates as a result of last night's results...

Locked into seeds:
1) Notre Dame
2) Louisville
3) Syracuse
4) FSU
5) Miami
6) NC State
...
14) BC
15) Clemson

7 thru 10 scenarios
7 - Lady Jackets get this with a win on Sunday at home vs Wake (or a loss by Duke at the Cheaters); Wake or French have shots if both G.T. and Duke lose
8 - assuming Lady Jackets defeat Wake, Duke will get this seed if it can beat the Cheaters 8 miles away (the way Duke has been turning the ball over, getting a win will be tough); Wake has tie breaker over Duke and Duke has tie breaker over the French
9 - the French have the tie breaker over Wake
10 - Wake likely drops here if they lose to G.T. Sunday

11 thru 13 scenarios
Pitt, Cheaters and Va Tech are all currently tied at 4-11. Pitt will lose at Louisville. Cheaters have a shot at a win Sunday hosting reeling Duke and Hokies host a reeling French team who they beat by 20 3 weeks ago in Gay Paris. Cheaters have the tie breaker over the Hokies...Pitt has tie breaker over the Cheaters...and the Pitt has the tie breaker over the Hokies. Pitt has the tie breaker advantage but they have pretty much a guaranteed loss at Louisville Sunday. 11 goes to Cheaters if they win. If they lose, it goes to the Hokies if they win. If they all lose, 11 goes to Pitt, 12 goes to the Cheaters and 13 goes to the Hokies. Clear as mud. And, none of this matters because they'll all be sent home by Day 3 at the latest of the A.C.C.T. anyway.

Worst case scenario for the Lady J's
Lose to Wake, Duke wins, French wins. That would put us tied with Wake and the French, who would both have the tie breaker advantage over us and send us to the 10-seed and having to play on Day 1 at the A.C.C.T. But, that's not going to happen. Go Lady J's. Just keep winning, babyyyy.

With a win over Wake Sunday...
the Lady J's enter the A.C.C.T. on a 4-game winning streak, having won 6 of the last 8, and finished off a 5-2 February right on cue.

Likely 10-seeded opponent if we get the 7-seed...
as stated above, it would be Wake. And, I think that is our best scenario as the Deacs would be entering the A.C.C.T. coming off a loss to us and on a 3-game losing streak. Prefer not to play the French (who beat us in Atlanta) or the Blue Devils (who likely won't turn it over 20+ times again and Peresson hitting 6 3-pointers again).

Get the 7-seed. Get the 19th overall win in the first game of the A.C.C.T. - likely guaranteeing a WNIT bid - and then worry about the beast called Louisville when you get to it Friday evening next week.

 

[GTJT622]

One of the best games Tilford has had in a Jackets uni last night. Her line... 10 pts, 5 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 1 BLOCK!!!, 2 boards...in 32 minutes on the court. 5 of 7 from the field. Much more aggressive looking to score. Very important and great to see.

The 7-player rotation with O'Neil and Cryor subbing in is working. Kat is playing with great confidence and has really stepped up. Still amazes me just a few weeks ago she was only getting 4 minutes in a game. Talk about things that made/make zero sense.

 

[Buzzforlife]

Agree with Tilford, which makes all the more logic to be playing a Freshman like Fortune. Imani got important minutes last year when Wallace went down before A C C play. We can use eight right now, to absorb fouls/minutes on the inside.

E.E. will need rotation help and another interior presence next season.