Georgia Tech outscored visiting Radford 58-26 in the second half, much to the delight of thousands of schoolchildren inside McCamish Pavilion, and won 82-36 in Karen Blair’s coaching debut Thursday morning.
“This is special. This is your first time as a head coach here at Georgia Tech, and to get this win, it’s like what I just shared with the team: This is group that’s believed in me, (those who) came here and those that stayed,” Blair said. “For me that’s really a special moment, to be able to share that with ‘em, and then just the way that they played and the way they performed today. So for me this will stick with me. The first one is always a special one. I’m so grateful that I got to do it with this group.”
Tech (1-0) got 16 points and seven rebounds from Talayah Walker, a Penn State transfer; 14 points from Catherine Alben, a Charleston Southern transfer; and 10 points and nine boards out of D’Asia Harris-Thomas. Brianna Turnage, a Florida State transfer, grabbed 11 rebounds; Erica Moon, a Texas A&M transfer, dished out six assists; and Ariadna Termis had eight points and seven rebounds.
All 10 Jackets in uniform for Thursday’s game scored.
“The way that (Blair) lets everybody be themselves and play freely is just amazing,” Walker said. “It’s easy to play for her. It makes us want to play harder for her, just having a coach that believes in you and wants you to succeed — everybody individually, not just some certain people. She wants everybody to be successful, and it’s just great to play for her.”
The Jackets got off to a slow start Thursday, finding themselves tied at 10-10 with 2:20 left in the first quarter and up only 13-10 after 10 minutes. But they turned it on in the second quarter, outscoring Radford 11-0 and going into halftime ahead 24-10.
Tech made 11 of 14 first throws in the first half and forced Radford (0-2) into eight turnovers. Radford shot only 14.8% in the first half, which overshadowed the Jackets’ 1-of-9 mark on 3-point shots and 24% shooting clip overall.
The Jackets began to turn it on in the third quarter, scoring 26 points, shooting 66.7% and tallying 11 assists on 12 made buckets to build a 50-19 lead. Tech, which ended the game with 24 assists on 28 field goals, cruised from there over the final 10 minutes.
Tech next hosts Princeton (0-0) at 2 p.m. Sunday, a matchup in which Blair said she expects her squad to continue to evolve.
“What it looks like in the future — this is the beginning of November — I think this is what we’re trying to figure out. … ‘What are these lineups? What are these matchups?’ And really trying to hone in on what the identity is going to be for our group,” Blair added.
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