November 18, 2006

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech women's basketball team used an 18-3 second half run to pull away from the pesky Delaware State Hornets and move to 3-2 with a 66-50 win at Cassell Coliseum. The Hornets fell to 1-1 with the loss.

The first half was a see-saw affair that featured six ties and five lead changes, with neither team leading by more than five points. The Hokies looked good on most of the stat sheet, shooting an impressive 60 percent from the field (15-of-25) and outrebounding the Hornets 20-10. The Hornets, by contrast, shot just 38.7 percent from the floor, making 12-of-31.

The one area where Tech struggled was against DSU's quick defense. The Hornets forced 11 Tech turnovers and parlayed those into a 13-4 advantage in points off of turnovers. What resulted was a slim 32-29 Hokie lead at intermission.

Katreem Palmer hit a shot at the 17:56 mark of the second to tie the score at 33. However, after that the Hokies finally found the run they had been looking for, outscoring the Hornets 10-1 over the next 5:45 to take a 43-34 lead and finally acquire a little breathing room. The Hornets went 0-for-8 during that span. The Hokies went on to stretch the run to 18-3 and take a 51-37 lead with under 10 minutes to play.

Following that stretch, the two teams went back to trading baskets as they had done for the entire first half and the Hokies held on for the win. Center Nare Diawara finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. Britney Anderson and Brittany Cook joined her in double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Point guard Laura Haskins tied a career-high with seven rebounds, while freshman Vionca Murray tied a personal best with nine points.

Raquel Collier paced DSU in the losing effort with 19 points. Palmer registered the double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Hokies continued their hot shooting in the second half, shooting 66.7 percent after halftime and 62.8 percent for the game. Tech crashed the boards hard as well, outrebounding the visitors 38-26. The Hokies committed 20 turnovers, but did dish out 19 assists. And Tech's bench outscored the Hornet bench 24-6.

"I thought we did a pretty good job crashing the boards, but we need to do a little bit better job locking down the defensive boards," head coach Beth Dunkenberger said. "Vionca Murray stepped up and I thought she was ready to play when her number was called. She took good shots and made her free throws.

"Bonehead turnovers have got to go, though. And matching up in transition is a definite must."

After playing four games in seven days, the Hokies will get a break before heading to Malibu, Ca., for the Pepperdine Thanksgiving Tournament. Tech will face Iowa State on Friday, Nov. 24, at 4 p.m., and then play either Tennessee Tech or Pepperdine the next day.