November 30, 2002

Box

Virginia Tech 72, Washington State 50

 

MIAMI, Fla. -- The Virginia Tech women's basketball team bounced back from Friday's loss to dominate Washington State, 72-50, Saturday night in the consolation game of the Herald/FIU Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Florida International University.

Tech (2-1) had dropped a 79-70 decision to Florida International Friday night in the first round when poor defense and a lack of rebounding led to the defeat. The story was much different Saturday as the Hokies held Washington State (0-4) to 37 percent from the field and forced 21 turnovers in the victory.

Erin Gibson (So., Galax, Va.) led Tech with 16 points and nine rebounds followed by Ieva Kublina (Jr., Riga, Latvia) and Fran Recchia (r-Fr., Flower Mound, Tex.) added 10 points. Recchia, who scored a career-high 19 points against FIU, scored all of her points in the first half versus the Cougars and was named to the All-tournament team.

The Hokies led 18-14 midway through the first half before outscoring Washington State 21-7 for the remainder of the half. Tech opened the second half with a 20-8 run to build its largest lead at 59-29 with 11 minutes remaining and were never challenged the rest of the way.

Several freshman saw action in the contest led by Dawn Chriss (Fr., Hillcrest Heights, Md.) with six points, eight rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and one steal. Carrie Mason (Fr., Seneca, Pa.), Davina Simmons (Jr., Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Brandy Fowler (Jr., Cary, N.C.) each had six points.

Tech will return home on Tuesday night to host the Dominion Virginia Power Classic against Virginia in a 7 pm contest.