St. Thomas, Virgin Islands -- Carrie Mason matched her career high with 24 points and helped the Virginia Tech women pull away from Mississippi State in the championship game of the Paradise Jam tournament in the Virgin Islands, 63-56.
The Hokies led 42-32 with 13:22 to go and watched the lead evaporate, as MSU went on a 9-0 run to make it 42-41 with 9:29 to go. VT went on a 7-0 to make it 49-41, then gave up seven straight points, and the score was 49-48.
The two teams battled back and forth, and it was tied at 56-all with 56 seconds to go after MSU's Tiania Burns stole the ball from Dawn Chriss and laid it in.
The Hokies then scored the last seven points of the game on a tip-in by Erin Gibson (8 points, 11 rebounds), two free throws by Mason, a free throw by Ieva Kublina (17 points, 5 rebounds), and two more free throws by Mason.
The Hokies go to 4-0 on the season. Their next game is Wednesday, December 3rd against Old Dominion, in Cassell Coliseum. Game time is 7 p.m.
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Virginia Tech 63, Mississippi State 56 11/29/03, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Virginia Tech................. 25 38 - 63
Mississippi State............. 26 30 - 56
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Virginia Tech 4-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
14 KUBLINA, Ieva....... f 7-13 0-2 3-4 3 2 5 0 17 0 4 3 0 35
32 GARDIN, Kerri....... f 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 11
54 GIBSON, Erin........ c 4-9 0-0 0-1 1 10 11 0 8 0 3 0 0 34
23 CHRISS, Dawn........ g 3-5 0-0 2-2 3 5 8 1 8 4 6 0 2 32
24 MASON, Carrie....... g 7-13 3-5 7-7 1 4 5 1 24 1 3 1 2 38
05 COPELAND, Kirby..... 3-6 0-0 0-2 1 4 5 3 6 1 3 0 1 24
10 RECCHIA, Fran....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 9
25 ANDERSON, Britney... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6
42 SIMMONS, Davina..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 7
45 FINNERTY, Megan..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 24-51 3-7 12-16 12 27 39 9 63 9 23 4 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-28 39.3% 2nd Half: 13-23 56.5% Game: 47.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 2-2 100 % Game: 42.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 10-12 83.3% Game: 75.0% 1,1
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Mississippi State 1-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 BURTON, Tiffany..... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
33 KATES, Rebecca...... f 2-4 2-2 0-0 1 1 2 2 6 1 1 0 0 36
12 BURNS, Tiania....... g 4-11 0-4 3-3 1 5 6 1 11 2 4 0 2 35
15 WHITE, Tan.......... g 3-13 1-5 1-2 2 1 3 3 8 2 2 0 1 34
20 ANDERSON, Seneca.... g 7-13 1-2 0-0 2 2 4 2 15 1 1 1 2 26
03 CHEKWA, Blessing.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 3 0 1 3 0 1 12
04 CARTER, Jessica..... 2-6 2-5 0-0 0 1 1 0 6 2 0 0 1 17
05 WARREN, Doceide..... 3-9 2-4 0-0 1 3 4 2 8 1 2 1 2 19
10 FERGUSON, Ebonie.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 8
14 McKINNEY, Mamie..... 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 1 9
23 HILLIARD, Chalandra. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM................ 3 3 6 1
Totals.............. 22-62 8-22 4-5 11 17 28 14 56 11 16 3 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-32 28.1% 2nd Half: 13-30 43.3% Game: 35.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd Half: 4-12 33.3% Game: 36.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% Game: 80.0% 2,1
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Officials: (R) Joanne Aldrich, (U) Norma Jones, Bruce Morris
Technical fouls: Virginia Tech-None. Mississippi State-None.
Attendance: 2369