Connecticut 48, Virginia Tech 34
Big East Tournament Second Round
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 3/7/04
Hartford, CT -- If you had told the Virginia Tech women that they would hold Connecticut to a season-low 48 points on 31.6% shooting, limiting Big East player of the year Diana Taurasi to 4 points in the process, Bonnie Henrickson's bunch would have liked that scenario. Unfortunately, though the Hokies did all that, they still lost by 14, dropping a 48-34 decision to the Huskies and bowing out of the Big East Tournament in the second round.
The Hokie women did a commendable job on defense, holding UConn to just 21 first-half points and 29% shooting before the break. That was critical for VT, who wanted to avoid the same slow start that they suffered back on January 27th, when they fell behind UConn 16-2 in a 68-50 loss.
But defense is only half the battle, and as they held the Huskies down for the first 20 minutes, the Hokies only managed 14 points themselves, on 28.6% shooting. UConn broke out of a 10-10 tie by outscoring VT 11-4 over the last 13:39 of the half, and the Hokies went into the break down 21-14.
Needing a hot start to the second half, Tech didn't get it, instead giving up the first 7 points after intermission. When UConn's Ann Strother hit a three-pointer just two minutes into the second half, it staked the Huskies to a football-like 28-14 lead, a lead the Hokies would never seriously threaten. Tech put on a 15-10 run over the next 13 minutes to close the score to 38-29 with 4:50 remaining, but UConn reeled off the next eight points to end the Hokies' chances.
The 34 points scored by the Hokies are the second-lowest point total in school history, behind the 33 points they scored against Tennessee in a 66-33 loss in 1995.
Carrie Mason led the Hokies with 13 points and was the only Tech player to score in double figures and shoot over 33%. Tech shot 11-43 for the game, or 25.6%, including a miserable 5-22 (22.7%) in the second half. Tech was outrebounded 38-34 and had 18 turnovers to UConn's 12. For UConn, Taurasi was 2-10, including 0-5 from three-point land.
The loss marks the second straight year that the Hokies have been knocked out of the BE Tournament by UConn, and Tech finishes 0-7 against UConn in four years of Big East play.
The Hokies are now 22-7, which should be good enough to get them into the NCAA Tournament, despite a 10-7 finish after a 12-0 start. Coming into this game, the Hokies had an RPI rating of 28, and playing the RPI #6 Huskies won't hurt them, despite the loss. Virginia Tech is hosting two rounds of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, March 21st and Tuesday, March 23rd, and attending Hokie fans should get to see their favorite team. CollegeRPI.com projected the Hokies as a #6 seed after their first-round Big East win over Georgetown.
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Connecticut 48, Virginia Tech 34
Big East Tournament 2nd Round
3/7/04, Hartford, CN
1st 2nd Tot
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VIRGINIA TECH 14 20 - 34
CONNECTICUT 21 27 - 48
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#8 VIRGINIA TECH (22-7)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
K Gardin 28 2-8 0-2 2-5 0 3 4
E Gibson 26 2-6 0-0 1-6 1 1 4
I Kublina 37 2-8 4-4 1-5 0 3 8
D Chriss 38 1-7 2-2 2-5 1 2 4
C Mason 39 4-11 3-5 0-1 1 1 13
K Copeland 14 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 1 0
M Finnerty 18 0-1 1-2 0-3 0 2 1
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TOTALS 200 11-43 10-15 7-27 4 13 34
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Percentages: FG-.256, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
2-8, .250 (I Kublina 0-3, C Mason 2-5). Team
Rebounds: 7. Blocked Shots: 2 (E Gibson, I
Kublina). Turnovers: 18 (D Chriss 7, I
Kublina 4, K Gardin 4, E Gibson 2, K
Copeland). Steals: 3 (D Chriss 2, C Mason).
#1 CONNECTICUT (26-3)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
B Turner 33 5-12 3-3 1-4 1 1 13
A Strother 36 3-9 0-0 2-4 3 1 8
J Moore 33 4-6 3-4 1-4 1 4 11
D Taurasi 23 2-10 0-0 1-2 3 4 4
M Conlon 35 2-8 0-0 2-5 3 2 5
A Battle 22 2-9 3-3 3-10 0 1 7
W Crockett 15 0-2 0-0 2-3 0 4 0
L Sherwood 3 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
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TOTALS 200 18-57 9-10 13-33 11 17 48
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Percentages: FG-.316, FT-.900. 3-Point Goals:
3-15, .200 (B Turner 0-2, A Strother 2-4, D
Taurasi 0-5, M Conlon 1-4). Team Rebounds: 5.
Blocked Shots: 2 (M Conlon, A Strother).
Turnovers: 11 (W Crockett 3, A Battle 2, M
Conlon 2, A Strother 2, J Moore, D Taurasi).
Steals: 9 (A Battle 2, J Moore 2, D Taurasi
2, M Conlon, W Crockett, A Strother).
Technical fouls: None. A: 10,833. Officials: Mark
Zentz, Susan Blauch, Yvette McKinney