2019-20 Georgia Tech Everyday Champions Issue #3

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL | ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY

Then there’s Fortner during the end-of- practice sudden death free throw shooting drill. “We were shooting free throws, and each person that came up and shot a free throw on her end, she started singing a freestyle song for that player.” Fletcher recalled, with a laugh. “It was hilarious because she was trying to rhyme. We couldn’t even focus because of how funny the stuff was that she was saying. Some of it didn’t even make sense.” The method to her madness makes perfect sense and the players immediately embraced it. “She’s made me love the game of basketball even more, and I just feel more positive,” said Cubaj. “I feel more energetic. I enjoy being around my teammates even more than I used to. That is really contagious. I believe more in my capabilities on the court.” Cubaj and others have expanded those capabilities. For example, the 6-4 forward, who has shown superb finishing offensively on the block, this season has unveiled her ability to shoot from the perimeter. She’s surpassed her career total of three-point field goals, making as many threes on Dec. 29 against Virginia (two) as she’d totaled her first two years. “She never told me not to shoot the three, so I will take the three if I’m open,” she said. “I feel like the style of play brings out some qualities that maybe before were not pointed out of certain players. People can express their games. She lets us do it. She encourages us to take risks.” “If you have the confidence of your coaches when you’re on the court, you’re not scared to shoot, you’re not scared to attack, you’re not scared to do your things,” agreed Pan. “People are playing their best right now because of the confidence that comes from the coaching staff. Everybody has improved their basketball skills this season.” “I can really see improvement from everybody on our team,” she added. “Like Jasmine (Carson), last year, barely played. This year she’s playing, and she has a role on our team, she’s scoring a lot, she’s picking us up on offense. Kierra is attacking the basket, she developed her jumper a lot. Last year it was more penetration. Everybody has improved their basketball skills this season.” The improvement hasn’t shown up on the scoreboard every night, but Fortner’s pride in the team’s effort has. Even during a recent losing streak, her message stayed positive. “She just told us that we have to regroup real quick,” said Cubaj. “That we will work on it in practice, because it’s really important for us to keep bouncing back and to bring energy all the time.”

and helped them weather a five-game losing streak during ACC play. Even at its most dire, the team never cracked or showed any inkling it would. It’s learned that while winning is fun, learning how to win can be, too. “She’s always joking around. Sometimes she jokes more than us,” said Fletcher. “It’s extremely funny when we see the videos up on the scoreboard (during timeouts). It’s hilarious because we see that day in and day out, but still we’re surprised by some of the stuff that she does.” There aren’t a lot of Division I coaches that will put themselves out there like Fortner does on a video that plays during a timeout, where she sings songs that she obviously knows -- “I Can’t Help Myself” by the Four Tops -- and tries to do songs that she really doesn’t know -- “Thank You, Next” by Ariana Grande and “In My Feelings” by Drake (the clean version, of course).

Francesca Pan (33) and Jasmine Carson have been Tech’s leading scorers all season long.

FACT With three games left in the regular season, Georgia Tech was within reach of a 20-win season.

18   EVERYDAY CHAMPIONS | SPRING 2020