Virginia Tech 70, Wake Forest 59
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 12/29/03
Blacksburg, VA -- The Virginia Tech women won the Lady Luck Classic holiday basketball tournament for the sixth time in a row, outscoring Wake Forest 13-2 in the last 2:23 of the game to blow open a tie contest into a double-digit win. Dawn Chriss led the way with 17 points, and Ieva Kublina added 15. Kerri Gardin turned in an impressive double-double, with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
With the game tied at 57-all with 2:23 to go, the Hokies (10-0) went on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to push Wake Forest (7-5) aside and take a 66-57 lead. During the run, Gardin scored five points and Chriss scored four. By the time Wake broke the run with a layup by Porsche Jones, there were only 22 seconds left, and Wake was out of reach of Tech, down 66-59. Kublina added two free throws and Chriss had a layup with six seconds to go to finish out the scoring for VT.
The Hokies, ranked 15th in the coaches' poll and 7th in the RPI ratings entering the game, faced some adversity early on, when they fell behind by 9 points twice in the first half, the second coming with 2:19 remaining and Wake up 29-20. Tech closed it to 29-23 at the half, then went on a 10-5 run to open the second half. Davina Simmons trimmed Wake's lead to one point, 34-33, with 15:36 to go.
From there, it was a seesaw battle until the Hokies' final run. Tech took a brief 39-38 lead, then Wake went back ahead and pushed the advantage to as much as six, going up 47-41 with 10:20 to play. Sparked by a three-pointer by Carrie Mason, VT then outscored the Demon Deacons 29-12 the rest of the way for the victory.
Chriss was strong from the field, hitting 7-of-11 field goals and grabbing 8 rebounds along with her 17 points. Kublina shot just 4-of-13 from the field, but she hit all 7 of her free throws for the second game in a row and was named tournament MVP. Erin Gibson turned in another double-double, her fifth of the season and third in a row, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The 10-0 start is the second-best start in VT women's basketball history, second only to the 18-0 start by the 1998-99 team that finished 28-3 and went to the Sweet 16. Virginia Tech is now 3-0 against ACC teams this season, with victories over Virginia, Maryland, and Wake. The Hokies are in action again this Friday night at home against Liberty, at 7 p.m.
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Virginia Tech 70, Wake Forest 59
12/29/03, Blacksburg, VA
WAKE 29 30 - 59
VIRGINIA TECH 23 47 - 70
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WAKE FOREST (59)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
E Strunk 28 7-12 2-7 4-6 2 5 16
E Ferrell 33 7-12 0-2 2-5 1 4 14
P Jones 31 3-6 2-2 2-4 1 1 8
B Brown 19 0-3 0-0 0-3 1 3 0
T Brown 33 5-13 2-2 1-4 0 3 12
C Bond-Young 23 3-8 0-0 0-2 2 3 7
T Alston 14 0-2 0-0 1-4 0 2 0
K Evans 12 1-2 0-3 2-2 0 4 2
J Johnson 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
M Washington 5 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS 200 26-60 6-16 12-31 7 26 59
_____________________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.433, FT-.375. 3-Point Goals:
1-9, .111 (E Strunk 0-1, P Jones 0-1, B Brown
0-2, T Brown 0-3, C Bond-Young 1-2). Team
Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 2 (K Evans, M
Washington). Turnovers: 16 (T Brown 3, C
Bond-Young 3, T Alston 2, B Brown 2, E Strunk
2, E Ferrell 2, P Jones, M Washington).
Steals: 6 (B Brown, E Ferrell, T Brown, P
Jones, E Strunk, K Evans).
VIRGINIA TECH (70)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
I Kublina 32 4-13 7-7 1-5 0 3 15
K Gardin 30 4-8 5-6 5-13 4 0 13
E Gibson 36 4-9 5-8 4-10 0 4 13
D Chriss 34 7-11 3-5 2-8 1 3 17
C Mason 40 2-8 0-1 0-1 2 1 5
K Copeland 12 0-3 1-2 1-2 2 2 1
F Recchia 4 1-2 2-2 0-0 0 0 4
D Simmons 10 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2
M Finnerty 2 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 1 0
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS 200 23-55 23-31 14-40 9 16 70
_____________________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.418, FT-.742. 3-Point Goals:
1-6, .167 (I Kublina 0-2, C Mason 1-4). Team
Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 6 (I Kublina 3, D
Chriss 2, E Gibson). Turnovers: 17 (D Chriss
5, K Gardin 4, C Mason 4, E Gibson 2, I
Kublina 2). Steals: 4 (C Mason 2, E Gibson, D
Chriss).
Technical fouls: None. A: 2,734. Officials: Bill
Titus, Mark Zentz, Michele St. Pierre