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Tech clinches fifth seed with win over St. John's
Hokies face West Virginia in BIG EAST first round
March 4, 2003
JAMAICA, N.Y. -- Virginia Tech entered Tuesday's contest at St. John's knowing a victory would send the Hokies to the BIG EAST Championship as the fifth seed. The Red Storm knew that a win would earn them a spot in the tournament. In a tale of two halves, St. John's played the first frame like a team playing to keep its season alive but Virginia Tech applied the defensive pressure following intermission fllexing its muscles en route to 69-53 win.
Tech (19-8, 10-6) will play 12th-seeded West Virginia (15-12, 4-12) Saturday at noon in the first round of the BIG EAST Championship in Piscataway, N.J. The event is hosted for the second consecutive season by Rutgers University.
St. John's played the Hokies tough in the first half forcing 11 turnovers and limiting Tech to only 40 percent from the field on the way to a 26-26 tie at the half. The second half was to be a completely different story.
Tech opened the second half on a 20-6 run to take a commanding 46-32 lead on a Ieva Kublina (Jr., Riga, Latvia) layup with 11:57 remaining in the game. St. John's would get no closer than nine points for the remainder of the game.
The Hokies, who were outscored 18-8 in the first half in the paint, clamped down on the inside defensively in the second converting Red Storm missed shot into layups in compiling a 26-14 inside advantage after intermission.
Tech shot 47.3 percent from the field, including 53.3 percent in the second half, and held a 21-14 second half rebound advantage.
Chrystal Starling (Sr., Syracuse, N.Y.) led three Hokies in double figures with 20 points followed by Carrie Mason (Fr., Seneca, Pa.) with 16 points, including three treys, and Kublina with 14. st. John's was led by Shemika Stevens with 14 points and Patrycja Gulak with 10.
Tech won both meetings with West Virginia this season winning 55-48 in Morgantown, W.Va. and 76-64 last Saturday in Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies lead the series 9-4 and have won the last five meetings between the two rivals.
