November 19, 2001

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech women's basketball team used tough defense down the stretch and timely free throw shooting to defeat the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs, 68-62. Old Dominion is currently ranked 16th in the nation in the latest ESPN poll.

Tech had a five-point lead with just :38 seconds left when the Lady Monarchs' Sharron Francis drained a three-pointer to cut the Tech lead to two. Old Dominion would get the ball back after a Hokie turnover, but then quickly returned the favor with a traveling violation. Junior Chrystal Starling (Syracuse, N.Y.) and Sarah Hicks each hit two clutch free throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory.

Starling led all scorers with 20 points and sank 11-12 free throws in the win. Senior Hicks (Roanoke, Va.) was second on the team in scoring with 14 points and seven rebounds. Senior Nicole Jones (Vienna, Va.) played a key role with a game-high nine rebounds. Jones scored seven of her nine points in the second half.

The Hokies led 27-22 at halftime thanks mainly to their bench play. Starling was limited to only five-minutes in the half due to foul trouble, however seniors Mollie Owings (Hyattsville, Md.) and Lisa Guarneri (Piscataway, N..J.) picked up the scoring with five and seven points respectively.

Old Dominion had three players score in double figures. Sharron Francis had a team-leading 13 points before fouling out in the final seconds and Hamchetou Maiga scored 12 in the loss. Monique Coker was third on the team with 10 points.

The win improves Hokie head coach Bonnie Henrikson's home record against Virginia schools to 12-0. Her overall record against instate opponents improves to 18-3. The Hokies will be back in action Nov. 24 when they travel to Baton Rouge, La. to play in the LSU Crawfish Classic. Tech plays Northwestern State in the opening round. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. Louisiana State University and Tennessee-Martin open the tournament in a 12 p.m. game.