Virginia Tech 63, Villanova 50
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 1/14/04
Blacksburg, VA -- Virginia Tech's 19th-ranked women's team snapped out of their recent road doldrums with a big home win over 24th-ranked Villanova, beating the Wildcats 63-50 in a game that wasn't that close. VT had balanced scoring, placing four players in double figures, led by Kerri Gardin with 14.
The Hokies (13-2, 2-2 Big East) used suffocating first-half defense and aggressive offense to bolt to a 27-9 lead, and Villanova (12-3, 2-2) didn't crack the ten-point barrier until there was 5:19 to go in the first half. The Hokies held Villanova to 7-of-26 shooting (26.9%) and outrebounded them 24-11 in the first half in taking a 30-16 half time lead. Gardin scored 10 of her 14 points in the half, shooting 3-of-4 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line.
Villanova came out stronger in the second half with offensive adjustments and took advantage of some mismatches and motion offense to get open looks inside. The Hokies, after shooting 44% in the first half (11-of-25) hit an offensive snag in the second half, scoring just six points in the first seven minutes.
This allowed Villanova, who also hit the boards harder in the second half, to close the gap to 36-27 on a three-pointer by Courtney Mix with 13:07 to go. Tech coach Bonnie Henrickson called a 30-second timeout to quell the rally, and the Hokies responded with a 9-0 run over the next 3:08, taking a 45-27 lead on a Carrie Mason jumper with 9:59 remaining.
Villanova had one more run in them, closing it to 48-35 at one point, but the Hokies pushed the lead back to 57-37 with 3:34 to go and coasted to the win from there.
Villanova was cursed in the second half with the inability to hit open shots, as time and time again they got open looks in the paint and from three-point range but couldn't knock down their shots. Tech was also whistled for just 8 fouls to 15 for Villanova, leading to a big scoring advantage from the free throw line for the Hokies. Tech hit 15-of-18 free throws, while Villanova went just 2-of-6.
In addition to Gardin's 14, the Hokies got 12 from Dawn Chriss on 5-of-8 shooting, 11 from Carrie Mason on 5-of-6 shooting, and 11 from Ieva Kublina. Kublina shot just 3-of-8 from the field, but she battled hard for position all game, particularly in the first half, and was willing to shoot it when the ball was delivered, despite heavy defensive attention. Kublina led the Hokies with 9 rebounds, with Tech having a 39-24 rebounding advantage for the game.
The Hokies travel to Georgetown (7-6, 1-2) for a 3 p.m. contest on Saturday.
================================================================================
Virginia Tech 63, Villanova 50
1/14/04, Blacksburg, VA
1st 2nd Tot
-----------------------------------
VILLANOVA 16 34 - 50
VIRGINIA TECH 30 33 - 63
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VILLANOVA (12-3, 2-2)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
L Suez 20 3-9 0-1 1-1 0 1 6
C Mix 35 3-6 0-2 3-9 2 2 7
J Rediger 23 1-3 1-1 1-4 0 3 3
J Hilgenberg 28 6-13 0-0 2-4 0 1 13
K Nash 9 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
B McManus 16 1-2 0-0 0-0 3 1 3
S Hatcher 2 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
C Roantree 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
K Dessart-Mager 21 5-10 1-2 1-1 1 3 11
J Viani 14 0-5 0-0 1-1 1 1 0
J Adamshick 24 2-9 0-0 0-2 1 2 5
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS 200 22-60 2-6 9-22 10 15 50
_____________________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.367, FT-.333. 3-Point Goals:
4-14, .286 (L Suez 0-2, C Mix 1-2, J
Hilgenberg 1-3, K Nash 0-1, B McManus 1-2, J
Viani 0-1, J Adamshick 1-3). Team Rebounds:
2. Blocked Shots: 8 (J Rediger 4, K
Dessart-Mager 2, C Mix, L Suez). Turnovers: 9
(J Rediger 2, L Suez 2, C Mix, J Adamshick, J
Viani, K Dessart-Mager, B McManus). Steals:
13 (K Dessart-Mager 5, C Mix 3, J Rediger 2,
J Hilgenberg, L Suez, J Viani).
VIRGINIA TECH (13-2, 2-2)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
I Kublina 30 3-8 4-5 2-9 1 0 11
K Gardin 29 4-10 6-6 0-6 0 2 14
E Gibson 17 1-4 0-2 1-4 0 0 2
D Chriss 33 5-8 2-2 2-5 4 3 12
C Mason 35 5-6 0-0 1-5 1 0 11
K Copeland 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
F Recchia 13 1-2 0-0 0-1 1 0 2
N Diawara 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
B Anderson 8 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 2
D Simmons 19 2-5 3-3 1-4 0 0 7
M Finnerty 12 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 1 2
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS 200 23-45 15-18 8-36 7 8 63
_____________________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.511, FT-.833. 3-Point Goals:
2-4, .500 (I Kublina 1-2, C Mason 1-1, F
Recchia 0-1). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked
Shots: 2 (I Kublina, K Gardin). Turnovers: 16
(K Gardin 4, C Mason 4, D Chriss 2, B
Anderson 2, K Copeland 2, I Kublina, F
Recchia). Steals: 1 (D Chriss).
Technical fouls: None. A: 2,364. Officials: Bonita
Spence, John Almarode, Wesley Dean