No. 9 seed Georgia Tech awaits Kansas women’s basketball in NCAA Tournament

By Zac Boyer     Mar 14, 2022

John Bazemore/Associated Press
Georgia Tech forward Lorela Cubaj (13) is shown action Louisville during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Atlanta.

The Kansas women’s basketball team loves to play defense. So does Georgia Tech, its first-round NCAA Tournament opponent.

That should make for a much more controlled game on Friday than the Jayhawks’ last, an 80-possession-per-team sprint in the Big 12 quarterfinals against Oklahoma. Plus, the Yellow Jackets run one of the slowest offenses in Division I with an average of just 65.5 possessions per 40 minutes, according to Her Hoop Stats.

Here’s a primer on Georgia Tech:

GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS

Located: Atlanta

Record: 21-10, 11-7 ACC

Qualification: At-large selection; finished sixth in ACC

Coach: Nell Fortner (Third season, 58-30)

Top players: Senior guard Lotta-Maj Lahtinen, 11 points per game; 4.2 assists per game; junior center Nerea Hermosa, 10.7 ppg, 5.6 rebounds per game; sophomore guard Eylia Love, 10.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg; senior forward Lorela Cubaj, 10.1 ppg, 11.1 rpg; 4.3 apg.

NET ranking: 28

NCAA Tournament appearances: 11th; last in 2021, a 73-56 loss to No. 4 seed West Virginia after a 54-52 win over No. 12 seed Stephen F. Austin.

Strengths: Allows 51.9 points per game, fifth in Division I; holds opponents to 35.3% shooting (20th); has a rebounding margin of 6.5 (38th); has 15.3 assists per game (43rd); has an assists-to-turnovers ratio of 1.09 (45th).

Weaknesses: Scores 61 points per game, 328 out of 350 teams in Division I; makes 661% of its free throws (300th).

Notable wins: Then-No. 3 UConn, 57-44; then-No. 20 Georgia, 55-54; then-No. 20 North Carolina, 55-38

Notable losses: Then-No. 3 Louisville, 50-48; Auburn, 59-51

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