February 5, 2002

Hokies snap skid with win over 'Canes

As Tech head coach Bonnie Henrickson walked into the postgame interview room with Sarah Hicks and Erin Gibson, she sat down, paused for a moment, and then smiled.

"We were well-represented by Southwest Virginia tonight," she said.

Indeed.

Hicks, from Roanoke, scored a game-high 20 points and Gibson, from Hillsville, scored 12 points off the bench as the Hokies rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to knock off Miami 72-60 on Tuesday night in front of 2,455 fans at Cassell Coliseum.

The win - Tech's first of the season when trailing at halftime - snapped a three-game losing skid for the Hokies. Tech improved to 16-5 overall and 7-3 in the BIG EAST, moving into sole possession of fourth place in the league standings behind UConn, BC and Notre Dame. Saddled with a three-game losing streak and facing a trip to UConn this weekend, the Hokies needed this one.

"They're all Œmust' at this point," Henrickson said. "We're fighting to stay in the top four of the standings and to get that first-round bye [in the BIG EAST tournament].

"I told the kids the other day that we're right where we were last year at this point. This is not something we can't do. We've just got to focus on us and get better. We need to get better."

The Hokies got better in the second half, outscoring Miami 42-26. Tech scored the first seven points of the half - Hicks scored five of those - and took the lead on a short jumper by Hicks at the 18:06 mark. Tech never trailed again.

The redshirt senior made 8-of-11 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc. She also recorded seven rebounds and dished out five assists.

"Sarah Hicks was fantastic," Miami coach Ferne Labati said. "Come February, your seniors have to come to play and she wanted it. She wasn't going to be denied. And No. 54 [Gibson] came off the bench and did an exceptional job for them too."

When Hicks was hitting jumpers, she was passing it inside to Gibson, who scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half. She made 6-of-8 from the floor for the game as the Hokies shot 68.4 percent in the second half (55.8 percent for the game). Gibson also blocked three shots, grabbed two rebounds and recorded two steals for the Hokies.

Nicole Jones added 12 points for Tech, while Ieva Kublina finished with 10.

Miami (14-8, 7-5), which shot just 29.4 percent in the final 20 minutes, was led by Meghan Saake, who scored 13 points. The Hurricanes turned the ball over 21 times and were outrebounded by Tech 31-27.

Tech now gears up for its trip to No. 1-ranked UConn. The Hokies take on the Huskies this Sunday at 2 p.m.