March 1, 2003

Virginia Tech went inside early and often and ended up pounding West Virginia 76-64 on Senior Day in a BIG EAST Conference game held Saturday afternoon in front of 3,408 fans at Cassell Coliseum.

The Hokies snapped a rare three-game losing streak under head coach Bonnie Henrickson and improved to 18-8 overall, 9-6 in the BIG EAST. West Virginia fell to 15-11, 4-11.

Tech never trailed in this one, taking a 10-point lead at halftime, and the Hokies expanded that lead to 16 with 13:29 left in the game. West Virginia made a small run, and cut the lead to 10 on a jumper by Yolanda Paige with 9:45 left. But after that, the Hokies put the game away with a 14-2 run and never looked back.

Chrystal Starling, one of just two Tech seniors on this year's team, and junior Ieva Kublina led Tech with 18 points each. Tech's inside presence, led by Kublina, proved to be too much for the Mountaineers as the Hokies scored 46 of their 76 points in the paint.

"I really didn't get the feeling we had lost confidence after losing three in a row," Henrickson said. "I just wanted them to be a little hungrier after losing. We kept talking about our performance in those games, too. We just hadn't played well. If we had played well, I probably wouldn't have been so crabby. But we did need to win."

The Hokies, who shot 50 percent from the floor for the game, also got 12 points and seven rebounds from Erin Gibson. For the first time this season, Gibson - who has struggled some of late - did not get the start as Henrickson elected to go with Davina Simmons. But the sophomore from Carroll County [Va.] High hit 6-of-11 from the floor, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out two assists, blocked two shots and recorded two steals in one of her better performances of the season.

"Of course, it's a shocker when you don't start, but I haven't been producing," Gibson said. "And Davina has been working hard, so I think Coach Henrickson made the correct decision and I respect her for making it."

"She's known since Thursday she wasn't going to start, so it wasn't a surprise," Henrickson said. "How she handle it was a good sign. She handled it maturely and she knew we were going to go to her once she got in the game."

Paige led West Virginia with 18 points, while Latitia Williams added 15. Kate Bulger, the Mountaineers' leading scorer on the season, finished with 12, but made just 4-of-13 from Tech puts end to the floor.

Tech next heads to New York for the regular-season finale at St. John's, the last-place team in the conference, on Tuesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30.