January 24, 2002

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A cold shooting night proved to be the main culprit in the Virginia Tech women's basketball team's 75-59 loss Wednesday night against the Syracuse Orangewomen at Manley Field House. The defeat ended the Hokies 12-game winning streak which was the second longest in the program's history.

Tech (15-3, 6-1), ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press and No. 17 in the USA TODAY/ESPN coaches poll, entered the contest as one of the best field goal shooting teams in the nation but could manage only 36.5 percent (23-63) against the Orangewomen. Tech also was only 7-of-24 from behind the arc with the 24 attempts establishing a new school single-game record. Sarah Hicks (Sr., Roanoke, Va.) connected on three treys to give her 127 for her career which ties Jeni Garber for the school record for career three-point field goals made.

The Hokies trailed 31-30 at the half but shot only 31.3 percent after intermission while Syracuse shot a sizzling 58.3 percent (14-24) in the second half and 53.1 percent for the game. Tech was allowing the opponents to shoot only 34.9 percent entering the game and had limited the Orangewomen to below 38 percent earlier in the month in a 62-56 win at home. Syracuse also dominated the boards by outrebounding the Hokies 47-25.

Tech was led by Hicks with 18 points followed by sophomore Ieva Kublina (Riga, Latvia) and junior Chrystal Starling (Syracuse,N.Y.) with 17 and 13 points respectively. Kublina led the Hokies on the boards with seven rebounds.

Syracuse (11-6, 4-2) placed four players in double figures led by Jamie James with 17 points followed by Julie McBride and Shannon Perry with 16 points each and Leaf Newman with 10 points. Perry also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Hokies look to regroup on Saturday when they play at defending national champion Notre Dame. The 6 p.m. contest will be televised locally by FOX 21/27 as part of the BIG EAST television package. The Fighting Irish hold the longest active home court winning streak in the nation at 46 games and are 51-3 in BIG EAST home games. Following Saturday's Notre Dame contest, Tech will host top-ranked Connecticut on Tuesday night, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m.