February 13, 2002

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The combination of turnovers and accurate free throw shooting by the opposition proved costly to the Virginia Tech women's basketball team Wednesday night as the Hokies lost 67-61 at Providence. The loss was Tech's fourth in its last five games.

The Hokies (16-7, 7-5), ranked No. 21 in this week's USA Today/ESPN coaches poll and No. 22 in the Associated Press poll, committed a season-high 30 turnovers in the defeat. Providence (10-12, 5-7) coverted the Tech turnovers into 31 points and sealed the game at the free throw line connecting on 16-of-19 free throws in the second half including 13-of-13 in the final seven minutes of the game.

After trailing 38-27 early in the second half, Tech put together a 15-3 run to take the lead at 42-41 with 12:30 remaining in the game. The teams exchanged the lead over the next five minutes until the Friars went on a 10-1 run to take a 61-55 lead with just under four minutes to go in the game. Tech managed to close to within 61-59 and had two chance to tie the game but missed shots on back-to-back possessions and saw Providence hit six consecutive free throws in the final :38 seconds for the win.

Erin Gibson (Fr., Galax, Va.) led the Hokies with 15 points and 10 rebounds to record the second double-double of her career. Nicole Jones (Sr., Vienna, Va.) and Ieva Kublina (So., Riga, Lativa) each tallied 12 points. Lisa Guarneri (Sr., Piscataway, N.J.) tied her career-high with nine points and also handed out a game-high six assists.

Chrissy Vozab led Providence with 13 points followed by Dani Trippany with 12.

Tech will look to reverse its recent results when the Hokies host Seton Hall this Sunday at 2 p.m. The game is part of the BIG EAST television package and will be carried locally by WPXR-TV 38 in Roanoke, Va.