GTWB: Tech falls 95-80 to Florida State to open ACC play

Georgia Tech women’s basketball opened conference play on Friday afternoon with a 95-80 loss at Florida State, allowing its most points of the season.

The Yellow Jackets fared nicely in the first half, building a 5-point midway through the second quarter, despite having starting point guard Tonie Morgan on the bench for 15 of the first 20 minutes with foul trouble.

In the second half, Georgia Tech struggled to keep Florida State’s explosive pace and space offense in check. The Seminoles stretched its lead to as many as 19 points, led by its trio of Ta’Niya Latson, O’Maria Gordon and Makayla Timpson.

Latson, the reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, recorded a game-high 30 points on 12 of 24 shooting from the field and 3 of 5 shooting from beyond the arc.

Despite the loss, Georgia Tech sophomore wing Kara Dunn led the Yellow Jackets with 24 points, four assists and four rebounds on 62.5% shooting from the field.

Dunn has reached 10 points in each of the last six games and 20 points in four of six games in December.

Georgia Tech junior forward Kayla Blackshear started the game in a groove, leading all scorers with 15 points at the break.

However, in the second half, Florida State made a defensive adjustment to have Timpson, the ACC’s block leader, defend Blackshear. And it worked as planned. Timpson held Blackshear to seven points on 3 of 7 shooting in the second half in the 15-point loss.

Blackshear played all 40 points for the Yellow Jackets, adding 22 points, six rebounds and four assists.

The offense isn’t the problem. It will be vital for Georgia Tech to find consistency with its defense or it could continue to struggle in ACC play as it did a season ago.

– Georgia Tech starting lineup: Tonie Morgan, Rusne Augustinaite, Kara Dunn, Kayla Blackshear and Aixa Wone Aranaz. The Yellow Jackets rolled out this starting five for the first time this season with Ines Noguero out with an upper-body injury, according to the ACC Network broadcast.

– Georgia Tech's offense went silent after trailing 9-8 with 6:21 remaining in the first quarter. The Yellow Jackets were scoreless over the next three minutes before Dunn knocked down a 3 to end the spell at the 3:06 mark.

– Georgia Tech made its last four field goals of the first quarter to cut the Seminoles’ lead down to two points. Dunn led all scorers with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field.

– Georgia Tech outscored Florida State 13-6 through the first five minutes of the second quarter. Blackshear recorded eight of the 13 minutes, dominating the Seminoles inside on post-ups and post-seals.

– At the half, the Yellow Jackets trailed 43-42. Morgan only logged five minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls – a season-low.

– Florida State had no answer for Blackshear early in the third quarter. The junior forward continued to get wherever she wanted on offense. Even Makayla Timpson, one of the best defenders in the ACC, struggled to deal with Blackshear inside.

– The Seminoles scored nine straight points and held the Yellow Jackets scoreless on five consecutive possessions to take its largest lead of the afternoon (59-50) with 4:40 remaining in the third quarter.

– Florida State outscored Georgia Tech 26-17 in the third quarter, led by a nine-point effort from star sophomore guard Ta’Niya Latson to take a double-digit lead.

– Georgia Tech found some rhythm offensively but struggled to chip away at Florida State’s lead due to missed free throws and repeating defensive struggles. The Seminoles made six of its first 12 field goals of the fourth quarter, including two 3-pointers to take a convincing lead.

– The Yellow Jackets lost 95-80 to fall to 9-4 on the season and 0-1 in ACC play.

Georgia Tech returns home on Thursday, Jan. 4 to face Virginia (8-3) at 7 p.m. ET, followed by a trip to Pittsburgh (6-7) on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m.