Notre Dame 53, Virginia Tech 40
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 1/10/04
South Bend, IN -- For the second game in a row, the 15th-ranked Virginia Tech women scored in the 40's, and for the second game in a row, they lost by 13 points. Notre Dame finished the game strong, outscoring Tech 24-11 down the stretch to leave the punchless Hokies wondering how they can get things back on track.
Virginia Tech led 20-16 at the break after an ugly first half by both teams, and the Hokies tied it at 29 with 12:30 to go on a shot by Dawn Chriss. But Notre Dame proceeded to blow the Hokies out of the building from that point on, going on a 22-6 run that put them up 51-35 with less than two minutes to go. Tech added a three-pointer by Carrie Mason and a cosmetic basket by Megan Finnerty with a tenth of a second to go to make the final margin 13.
Tech was led by Kerri Gardin's ten points, but she was the only Hokie to score in double figures. Ieva Kublina, after going 0-of-7 from the field and scoring just six points against Rutgers in Tech's last outing, scored just three points, taking only five shots and making just one. She did lead the Hokies with nine rebounds, but Tech was badly outrebounded, 41-31 by the Irish.
The good news for the Hokies was that Mason, after playing poorly against Rutgers, found her stroke, hitting 3-of-5 shots, all from behind the arc. She finished with nine points.
As a team, the Hokies (12-2, 1-2 Big East) shot just 33.3 percent (16-of-48) from the field, their second-worst shooting game of the season. Notre Dame (8-6, 1-1) was led by Jacqueline Batteast's 14 points and 11 rebounds.
A frustrated coach Bonnie Henrickson indicated in her post game comments that lineup changes might be in store for the Hokies to shake them out of their doldrums. She specifically expressed disappointment that Kublina didn't shoot more.
Tech's next game is against Villanova (12-2, 2-1 BE) on Wednesday, January 14th in Blacksburg. Tipoff is 7 o'clock. The Wildcats went 2-0 against the Hokies last season, including a 71-61 victory in Blacksburg.
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Notre Dame 53, Virginia Tech 40
1/10/04, South Bend, IN
1st 2nd Tot
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VIRGINIA TECH 20 20 - 40
NOTRE DAME 16 37 - 53
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VIRGINIA TECH (12-2, 1-2)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
K Gardin 34 5-13 0-0 1-4 2 3 10
E Gibson 30 2-9 4-8 2-7 2 4 8
I Kublina 30 1-5 1-2 3-9 1 4 3
D Chriss 31 4-12 0-0 0-0 3 2 8
C Mason 38 3-5 0-1 0-4 2 2 9
K Copeland 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
F Recchia 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
B Anderson 8 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0
D Simmons 3 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
M Finnerty 16 1-3 0-0 0-3 0 2 2
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TOTALS 200 16-48 5-11 7-30 10 18 40
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Percentages: FG-.333, FT-.455. 3-Point Goals:
3-8, .375 (I Kublina 0-1, D Chriss 0-1, C
Mason 3-5, F Recchia 0-1). Team Rebounds: 1.
Blocked Shots: 4 (I Kublina 2, K Gardin, B
Anderson). Turnovers: 19 (E Gibson 4, I
Kublina 3, K Gardin 3, D Chriss 2, C Mason 2,
B Anderson 2, F Recchia, D Simmons, M
Finnerty). Steals: 5 (D Chriss 2, C Mason 2,
M Finnerty).
NOTRE DAME (8-6, 1-1)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
T Borton 35 4-12 6-7 2-6 0 4 14
J Batteast 32 6-12 2-3 1-11 2 2 14
L Severe 29 4-9 0-0 0-3 3 1 8
M Duffy 38 2-9 2-2 1-2 7 2 6
M Hernandez 21 1-2 0-0 1-4 1 0 2
J Joyce 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
B Gray 2 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
K Flecky 19 2-4 2-3 1-4 0 1 7
C Erwin 4 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 2 0
C LaVere 17 0-4 2-2 1-4 1 2 2
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TOTALS 200 19-52 14-17 8-36 14 14 53
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Percentages: FG-.365, FT-.824. 3-Point Goals:
1-5, .200 (M Duffy 0-3, M Hernandez 0-1, K
Flecky 1-1). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots:
7 (T Borton 3, J Batteast 2, K Flecky, C
LaVere). Turnovers: 14 (J Batteast 3, M Duffy
3, L Severe 2, T Borton, B Gray, C Erwin, C
LaVere, K Flecky, M Hernandez). Steals: 13 (L
Severe 4, M Hernandez 3, J Batteast 2, C
LaVere 2, T Borton, K Flecky).
Technical fouls: None. A: 6,059. Officials: Bruce
Morris, Dee Kantner, Yvette McKinney