December 7, 2002

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech women's basketball team improved to 15-0 at Cassell Coliseum against Virginia opponents with a 77-73 overtime win over James Madison Saturday night. Sophomore Erin Gibson scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 13 boards for her second career double-double.

Gibson nailed two free throws with 27 seconds left in overtime to give Tech a 74-73 lead. A free throw by Carrie Mason and two from Chrystal Starling sealed the victory for the Hokies. Tech went five of six from the free throw line and held JMU to two baskets in the extra period.

The Hokies (4-1) opened the second half with a 21-11 run to tie the score at 51. The two teams traded points throughout most of the second half, with neither team leading by more than two at any point. With just over two minutes left, Mason and Fran Recchia hit back-to-back three point baskets to give the Hokies a 63-61 lead. The Dukes' Shanna Price answered with a trey to give JMU a short-lived lead. After two free throws by Starling gave the lead back to Tech, Krystal Brooks hit a basket, giving JMU a 65-66 lead. With 11 seconds left Ieva Kublina converted a three-point play to give Tech a two-point lead. However, a layup by Nadine Morgan with four seconds left sent the game into overtime.

The Hokies trailed the entire first half, after the Dukes got off to a quick 15-4 lead. Trailing by as many as 12, Tech slowly began chipping away at the James Madison lead. Late in the first half, the Hokies used an 8-3 to close the gap to 25-18. Tech trailed 39-26 at the half.

Starling had 20 points and nine rebounds and was 12-14 from the free throw line. Mason added 16 points for the Hokies.

James Madison (1-3) was led by Price with 25 points, followed by Morgan's 13 points and Brooks with 12.

The Hokies will be back in action Wednesday, Dec. 11, for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Maryland.