December 29, 2006

Box Score

Virginia Tech 71, Detroit 57

 

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech Hokies improved to 9-5 and brought home their ninth straight Lady Luck Classic championship with a 71-57 win over the Detroit Titans on Dec. 29 at Cassell Coliseum. Detroit fell to 3-10 with the loss.

After narrowly escaping a poor performance against Winston-Salem State in the first round of the tournament on the previous day, the Hokies jumped on the Titans and never looked back. Tech opened the game with an 11-2 run and led 36-20 at halftime, almost equaling the 43 total points it scored against WSSU in one half against Detroit.

Tech shot almost 43 percent before halftime and featured a much-more balanced attack. Senior Britney Anderson and freshman Utahya Drye, making her second career start and second in as many days, led all scorers with nine points apiece. Five other Hokies also found their ways into the scoring column.

The Hokies stretched the lead to as many as 22 points in the second half, leading 62-40 after an Anderson 3-pointer at the 6:44 mark. Detroit responded with seven unanswered to cut the lead back down to 15, and then finished the game on a 7-2 run, but the Hokies still won by a comfortable margin.

The Hokies were remarkably consistent in both halves, shooting 15-of-35 both before and after halftime. They were also able to find the holes in Detroit's zone and exploit it for 21 assists. Sophomore Amber Hall led the team with seven helpers and flirted with a triple-double by scoring nine points and grabbing eight rebounds.

"The main thing going away last night was that we started to look a little nervous," head coach Beth Dunkenberger said. "So we tried to get in the gym and shoot some today. But really, I just tried to make sure that they had confidence shooting the ball."

Just as against WSSU, senior co-captain Kirby Copeland sat out, suspended at Dunkenberger's discretion. Copeland should be back when the Hokies begin the ACC portion of their schedule against Wake Forest on Jan. 2. Anderson, a fellow senior and co-captain, returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench in the tournament opener, also a result of disciplinary action handed down by Dunkenberger.

Anderson responded by leading the Hokies with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Senior Nare Diawara and Drye joined her in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Drye's 11 points represent a career-high for her.

"I'm not surprised at all because that's what we see Utahya do every day," Dunkenberger said. "She just hasn't stepped up with that confidence in a game. She was a little nervous yesterday and didn't play her best game, but we went right back with her in the starting lineup and she stepped up."

Diawara was awarded the tournament MVP award after averaging 14.5 points and 10 rebounds in the two games. She also set a tournament record for blocks with10. Anderson joined her on the all-tournament team, along with Detroit's Joyce Massey, New Hampshire's Danielle Flowers, and Winston-Salem State's Shalonda Carter.

Tech's win streak in its own tournament now stands at 18 games. The team's last loss in the tournament came in the 1997 championship game against Siena, 69-64. Tech's next game will mark the beginning of ACC play when Wake Forest comes to Cassell Coliseum for a 7 p.m. tip on Jan. 2.