December 21, 2002

Boxscore

Old Dominion 63, Virginia Tech 49

 

NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion used a late first-half run and timely free throw shooting late in the game to claim a 63-49 win over Virginia Tech Saturday in front of 5,486 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on the ODU campus. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Hokies.

Tech (6-2) struggled from the field the entire game connecting on only 33.9 percent (20-59) and also shot only 50 percent (8-16) at the free throw line. After trailing for most of the first half, Tech pulled to within 21-17 with 4:53 remaining but the Lady Monarchs put together a 12-1 run to lead 33-18 at the break.

The Hokies could draw no closer than eight points in the second half as ODU connected on its free throw attempts in the final five minutes.

Tech was led by Chrystal Starling (Sr., Syracuse, N.Y.) with 16 points followed by Ieva Kublina (Jr., Riga, Latvia) with 13 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. The double-double was the 12th of Kublina's career and the three blocks marked the 22nd time in her career that she has blocked three or more shots in a game.

Old Dominion (2-4), which had lost to four ranked opponents, was led by Okeisha Howard with 17 points followed by Shareese Grant and Max Nhassengo with 14 and ten points respectively.

The Hokies will return to action on Dec. 28 for a 3 p.m. contest against UT Martin in the first round of the Lady Luck Classic in Blacksburg. The 1 p.m. game features Duquesne taking on Loyola (Md.). The consolation and championship games will be played on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 1 and 3 p.m.