In what will be perhaps the No.18 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets biggest game of the season thus far, the team is in a battle with the No.14 ranked Duke Blue Devils, as they currently are down 31-27 at halftime.
Yellow Jackets forward Zoesha Smith got the scoring started early, making a layup after grabbing a rebound after a Tonie Morgan miss. Morgan would make the game's next basket to give the Yellow Jackets a 4-0 early lead. Chazadi Wright would score the next five points for the Yellow Jackets, making a mid-range jumper and a three-point shot to give the team a 9-3 lead half way through the first quarter.
Duke would fire back with a jumper of their own, but Smith would fire right back making a layup. The Yellow Jackets would start the game by making five of their first 11 shots. The two offenses would trade shots back and forth before neither team made a field goal in the final 2:13 to end the first quarter 18-17 in favor of the Yellow Jackets.
Chazadi Wright has been crucial to the Yellow Jackets success in the game, scoring eight points in the first quarter. Smith has been a big contributor in the paint for the Yellow Jackets, grabbing six rebounds in the first quarter alone.
The Blue Devils would take the lead for the first time in the game when Oluchi Okananwa made a layup to put the team up 19-18. That would be the start of a 6-0 run by the Blue Devils to put them up 23-18, before Smith knocked down a jumper to make it 23-20. The two teams would trade shots again, with the Yellow Jackets tying the game up halfway through the second quarter at 25-25. From there, the Blue Devils would end the quarter on a 6-2 run to head into the locker room up 31-27.
Smith leads the Yellow Jackets with ( points, 10, and rebounds, seven, while Wright has put up eight points. Morgan has six points.
Yellow Jackets freshman guard Dani Carnegie would see limited playing time in the first half, shooting 0-3 and committing three turnovers at halftime.