January 28, 2003

Boxscore

Miami 67, Virginia Tech 66 (OT)

 

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- A season-high 31 turnovers proved to be too much to overcome as Virginia Tech saw a tremendous comeback in the final two minutes of regulation be for naught in a 67-66 overtime loss to Miami Tuesday night at The Convocation Center on the University of Miami campus. The overtime contest is Tech's third this year setting a single-season record.

Tech (13-5, 4-3) found itself trailing 54-47 with 1:51 remaining in regulation before the Hokies put on a fierce rally aided by poor free throw shooting by the Hurricanes. Ieva Kublina (Jr., Riga, Latvia) hit a layup followed by two Carrie Mason (Fr., Seneca, Pa.) free throws to cut the Miami advantage to 54-51 with a minute left in the game. Tech forced the Hurricanes into a turnover and Mason drilled a three-pointer with seven seconds remaining to send the game into the extra period.

In overtime, the Hokies again found themselves in a hole trailing 66-61 at the 2:07 mark. Mason again stepped up and hit two free throws to narrow the gap but Tamara James hit 1-of-2 at the line to give Miami a four-point lead at 67-63. Fran Recchia (r-Fr., Flower Mound, Tex.) made the first of two free throws but missed the second however Tech's Davina Simmons (Jr., Winston-Salem, N.C.) came down with the offensive rebound. Chrystal Starling (Sr., Syracuse, N.Y.) hit a jumper to draw the Hokies within 67-66 with a minute left in the game.

On its next possession, Miami (13-5, 5-2) worked the clock down before Starling was whistled for a foul on James with :40 ticks on the clock. James missed both shots and Tech, with no timeouts, pushed the ball into the frontcourt. With time running down on the shot clock, Emily Lipton missed a jumper and then fouled the Hurricanes' Megan Saake with five seconds on the game clock. Saake promptly clanked both free throws and Simmons pulled down the rebound and raced up the floor only to have the ball stolen by Chavinia Broussard before she could get a shot off.

In addition to the turnovers, the Hokies shot only 34.4 percent from the field but were kept in the contest as Miami was 10-of-26 at the free throw line for the game including 5-of-11 in overtime. Tech was led by Mason with a career-high 24 points followed by Starling with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Kublina with 12 points. The double-double was the second in Starling's career and Kublina now has 992 career points, just eight shy of becoming the 15th member of the Hokies 1,000-point club. Erin Gibson (So., Galax, Va.) was credited with 14 rebounds marking the third consecutive game she has had double-digit rebounds.

Tech hosts Providence Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum where the Hokies are 9-0 on the year.