Virginia Tech 83, Furman 70
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 12/28/03
Blacksburg, VA -- The 15th-ranked Virginia Tech women's basketball team pulled away from Furman at the end of the first half and then cruised down the back stretch to victory, pushing their record to 9-0 with an 83-70 win in the first round of the annual Lady Luck Classic in Cassell Coliseum.
The Hokies were led by Ieva Kublina's season-high 25 points. Kublina bounced back from a poor outing at JMU in the last game, when she fouled out after 31 minutes with just 8 points. Kublina was 8-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range, and she was perfect from the free throw line, hitting all 7 tries.
Tech held a 24-22 lead with 4:16 to go in the first half, then went on a 23-10 run that bridged half time and pushed the lead to 47-32 with 14:44 to go. From there, the Hokies stretched the lead to 19 points a couple of times, the last one coming when Kublina hit a 3-pointer to make it 82-63 Hokies, with 2:38 to go.
The key to the game was Tech shutting down Furman's leading scorer, Deshara Shealey. Shealey had a horrible game, shooting 4-of-23 from the field and scoring just 10 points, as Furman (3-5) shot 25-of-68 (36.8%) as a team to Tech's 28-of-61 (45.9%). Both teams shot very well from the free throw line, with VT hitting 84.6% (22-of-26), and Furman 83.3% (20-of-24). Furman outrebounded Tech 43-38, and with the exception of Shealey's poor performance, the two teams played evenly.
Carrie Mason had 14 points and 5 assists for the Hokies, and Erin Gibson had 14 points and 16 rebounds. The Hokies advance to the championship game of the Lady Luck Classic, where they'll meet 7-4 Wake Forest. The game will start at roughly 7 p.m. Monday night, after the conclusion of the consolation game that begins at 5:00.
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Virginia Tech 83, Furman 70
12/28/03, Blacksburg, VA
FURMAN 28 42 - 70
VIRGINIA TECH 37 46 - 83
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FURMAN (70)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
O Wake 22 5-11 2-3 5-9 0 5 12
J Nadalin 24 4-8 2-3 4-8 1 1 10
K Lawrence 16 3-7 0-0 1-3 2 4 6
T Paris 26 3-6 8-10 0-0 2 3 14
D Shealey 35 4-23 2-2 5-8 3 0 10
M Strickland 16 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 3 0
P Wells 13 0-1 4-4 1-3 0 1 4
L Harris 9 0-1 0-0 0-2 0 2 0
L Few 21 3-5 2-2 2-3 2 2 8
K Roach 18 3-4 0-0 0-2 0 2 6
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS 200 25-68 20-24 18-38 10 23 70
_____________________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.368, FT-.833. 3-Point Goals:
0-5, .000 (T Paris 0-1, D Shealey 0-2, P
Wells 0-1, L Harris 0-1). Team Rebounds: 5.
Blocked Shots: 3 (D Shealey, J Nadalin, K
Roach). Turnovers: 19 (L Harris 4, D Shealey
4, T Paris 3, O Wake 2, K Roach 2, M
Strickland, K Lawrence, J Nadalin, L Few).
Steals: 8 (D Shealey 2, J Nadalin 2, M
Strickland, L Few, T Paris, K Lawrence).
VIRGINIA TECH (83)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
K Gardin 23 2-6 0-2 0-3 6 1 4
E Gibson 30 4-13 6-6 7-16 1 2 14
I Kublina 32 8-14 7-7 2-6 2 3 25
D Chriss 19 3-5 1-1 1-1 0 2 7
C Mason 34 5-10 2-2 0-3 5 2 14
K Copeland 18 4-5 1-2 0-1 4 4 9
F Recchia 18 1-3 0-0 0-1 3 1 3
N Diawara 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
B Anderson 9 0-2 4-4 0-0 0 1 4
D Simmons 4 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 3 0
M Finnerty 11 1-1 1-2 0-1 0 2 3
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS 200 28-61 22-26 10-32 21 21 83
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Percentages: FG-.459, FT-.846. 3-Point Goals:
5-11, .455 (I Kublina 2-3, C Mason 2-6, F
Recchia 1-2). Team Rebounds: 6. Blocked
Shots: 4 (I Kublina 2, K Gardin, N Diawara).
Turnovers: 17 (C Mason 4, K Copeland 4, K
Gardin 3, I Kublina 2, E Gibson, B Anderson,
D Chriss, M Finnerty). Steals: 6 (K Gardin 3,
C Mason 2, E Gibson).
Technical fouls: None. A: 2,525. Officials: Bill
Titus, Bryan Brunette