March 5, 2000

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Massachusetts' Alison MacFarland hit two free throws with :04 seconds left in the game, and Kathy Coyner hit two more free throws with :02 seconds left to lift the Minutewomen to a 58-54 upset victory over Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals of the Bell Atlantic Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament at the Liacouras Center.

The second half was a see-saw battle that had eight ties and 15 lead changes. Mollie Owings made a jumper with 3:21 left to give Tech a 51-50 lead, before UMass' Nekole Smith hit a layup to take the 52-51 lead.

Nicole Jones made two free throws with 1:27 left to give the Hokies the one-point advantage, 53-52. Smith hit a jumper with :44 seconds left, giving the Minutewomen the one-point lead, 54-53, before Tech's Chrystal Starling hit the first of two free throws to tie the game at 54-54 with :19 seconds left in the game.

Jones and Amy Wetzel led the Hokies with 15 points each and Starling added 10 points. MacFarland led all scorers with 19 points, Smith finished with 14 points and Coyner added 10 points and dished out nine assists.

UMass started the game on a 6-0 run and then increased its lead to 8-1 at 15:27 with a basket from MacFarland. The Hokies didn't score a field goal until Sarah Hicks hit a jumper at 14:52. The Minutewomen built their lead to 14-8 at 9:32, before Tech ran off an 11-0 run to take a 19-14 lead, with 4:25 left in the first half. UMass closed out the half on a 5-1 run to cut the Tech lead down to one point.

Neither team shot the ball well with Tech hitting 39.6 percent (19/48) from the field and UMass shooting 35.2 percent (19/54). The Hokies committed 17 turnovers compared to only 10 for the Minutewomen. Tech only hit 62.5 percent (15/24) from the free throw line and UMass hit 89.5 percent (17/19).

The Hokies won the battle of the boards, 39-33, led by Jones' eight boards and Wetzel's seven rebounds. UMass was led by Jennifer Butler's game-high 10 rebounds.