Tech struggles to contain No. 20 Louisville’s 3-point flurry in 80-62 loss

ATLANTA – Even though Georgia Tech women’s basketball cut into No. 20 Louisville's 23-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals’ scorching performance from beyond the arc proved insurmountable, leading to a 80-62 loss for the Jackets on Thursday night.

Despite scoring the game's first four points, Louisville followed that up with a 10-0 run early in the first quarter, allowing it to build momentum offensively and get into their half-court pressure defense.

The Cardinals forced seven turnovers and scored 13 of its 21 points off turnovers in the first quarter.

“One thing we have to work on is adjusting [to defense’s] faster,” Georgia Tech wing Kara Dunn told the media postgame.

The Jackets struggled to contain Louisville’s Sydney Taylor as the senior guard scored 23 points in the first half, rattling down five 3s on 63.6% shooting from the field.

Taylor finished with a game-high 31 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals on 7-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc, including a pair of logo 3s.

“She was like an All-American tonight,” Georgia Tech head coach Nell Fortner said.

Louisville backup point guard Jayda Curry added 13 points and two assists while knocking down three 3s.

“In the first half, they really hurt us with ball reversals,” Fortner said. “We were giving up way too many right-hand drives, so we’re having to help over, help the helper and [then], they’re kicking it over to the open shooter. They were killing it, they shot the ball well.”

Three players scored 10 or more points for the Yellow Jackets, led by a 17-point effort from Dunn.

Georgia Tech starting point guard Tonie Morgan recorded 16 points and five assists on 46.1% shooting from the field, while freshman off-guard Rusne Augustinaite scored 14 points on 30.7% shooting from the field.

Georgia Tech falls to 15-13 on the season and 6-10 against ACC foes.

1Q: Georgia Tech forced a turnover on Louisville’s first two offensive possessions, but the Cardinals followed this with a 10-0 run – including a pair of 3s from Sydney Taylor – in a three-minute stretch to take a 10-4 lead. Over the last five minutes of the first quarter, Louisville outscored Georgia Tech by a point to extend the lead to 21-13. The story of the first quarter: Turnovers. The Yellow Jackets committed seven turnovers, however, the Cardinals committed four of their own.

2Q: Georgia Tech’s Tonie Morgan added eight points in the quarter, though the Yellow Jackets only scored 15 points as a team. Taylor scored 15 of Louisville’s 23 points in the quarter to extend their lead to 15 points at the half.

3Q: Georgia Tech made its first three field goals in the third quarter to trim the deficit to nine points at the 7:24 mark. Yet, the Yellow Jackets only scored four points over the final six minutes in the third quarter. Louisville’s Jayda Curry, Kiki Jefferson and Taylor combined to make four 3s on perfect shooting (4-of-4) to lead by 23 points entering the fourth quarter.

4Q: Georgia Tech started to get consecutive stops on defense and build a groove offensively through Kara Dunn and Kayla Blackshear’s play-finishing. The Yellow Jackets cut the deficit to 13 points at the 6:35 mark, holding the Cardinals to two points over that span. Louisville eventually put together scoring trips to make the game out of reach for Georgia Tech.

Georgia Tech faces Wake Forest (5-22, 1-13 in ACC) at home on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. ET.