Lubbock, TX -- The 7th-seeded Virginia Tech women shot out to a 15-0 lead and never looked back, crushing the 10th-seeded Denver Pioneers in their first-round NCAA Tournament game.

The Hokies were led by Chrystal Starling's 20 points off the bench, but the real story of the game was a dominating first half that saw Tech take a 42-17 lead into half time. In that first half, Sarah Hicks scored all of her 14 points and Ieva Kublina added 9.

In the second half, Tere Williams (16 points for the game) and Starling took over to help the Hokies cruise to the victory. The Pioneers cut the lead to 18 at a couple of points in the second half but were never able to mount a serious threat as the Hokies rolled to the win.

Denver made the transition from Division II to Division I just three years ago, and this was their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. They came out cold, and the Hokies came out focused and sharp, and the game was never in doubt.

Tech put five players in double figures: Starling with 20, Williams with 16, Hicks with 14, Amy Wetzel with 12, and Kublina with 11. The Hokies were led in rebounding by Hicks with 8 and Williams with 7.

The Hokies held Denver's Misa Pavlickova, the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, to just 10 points on 5-17 shooting. Denver was led by Nikki Weddle, who scored 16 points but also suffered through a 5-17 shooting performance. Denver shot just 21-61 (34.4%) from the field for the game.

Virginia Tech dominated nearly every statistical category. Tech shot 26-47 from the field (55.3%), 22-24 (91.7%) from the free throw line, and outrebounded Denver 41-25.

The Hokies did have 24 turnovers (compared to 19 for Denver), a stat that will have to improve for Sunday's second-round game against Texas Tech. The 2nd-seeded Red Raiders were 100-57 winners over Pennsylvania Friday night and will play the Hokies on their home floor Sunday at 6:35 p.m. The game will be shown on Home Team Sports (HTS).

USA Today box score
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