March 20, 2002

Virginia Tech forward Sarah Hicks found her shooting touch, hitting four 3-pointers and scoring a game-high 22 points to lead the Hokies past the Vermont 76-48 in a Women's National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal game held Wednesday night in front of 2,884 fans at Cassell Coliseum.

With the win, Tech improved to 21-10 on the season and the Hokies advanced to the semifinals of the WNIT. Tech will play the Houston Cougars, a 61-53 winner of Valparaiso on Wednesday night, this Saturday in a 7 p.m. match-up at Cassell Coliseum.

Tech is 15-1 at Cassell Coliseum this season, with the lone loss coming at the hands of No. 1-ranked UConn. The 15 wins at home this season ties the mark set by the 1998-99 team, which went 15-0 at home that season.

Hicks scored 17 of her 22 points in the first half as the Hokies jumped out to a 14-point lead, 45-31, at halftime. For the game, Hicks made 8-of-11 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from beyond the 3-point line. The redshirt senior had been struggling from the floor coming into the game, having shot just 27 percent from the field in her previous nine games.

"I think it started with those two lay-ups early in the game," Hicks said. "That helped me build some confidence and that's important for me. When you get a couple of easy ones, you feel good about yourself."

"I have to credit [Tech assistant] Angie Lee for that one," Henrickson said of Hicks' performance. "She said before the game, ŒIt's time for Hicksy to go off offensively.'

"I thought she did a good job. She and Ieva [Kublina] got good looks and they attacked offensively. That's important for us because they are two good offensive players."

Kublina, the 6-foot-4 sophomore, towered over the smaller Catamounts, who didn't feature a player taller than 6-1. She scored 13 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots. That gives her 84 on the season and she needs just nine to tie the single-season record held by former player Susan Walvius.

Freshman Rayna DuBose added a career-high 13 points in 10 minutes of action and Chrystal Starling finished with 12.

Tech's size and depth eventually wore down the Catamounts. Tech held Vermont to 38.3 percent shooting from the floor and outrebounded Vermont 43-26.

"I thought Virginia Tech played a good game," said Vermont coach Keith Cieplicki, a two-time all-conference player at William & Mary who actually played against Tech men's coach Ricky Stokes in college. "We knew coming in that it would be a challenge. Virginia Tech plays at a very physical level and we're not exposed to that, so this was a good learning experience for us. We're just thankful to be in the WNIT and proud of the year we've had."

Vermont finishes this season with a 23-9 record. The Catamounts won the regular season of the America East Conference, but lost to Hartford in the conference tournament semifinals on Hartford's home floor.