February 5, 2007

Box Score

Virginia Tech 73, Georgia Tech 68

 

BLACKSBURG, Va. - On February 5 in Blacksburg, the weather outside was frightful, but the temperature inside Cassell Coliseum was delightful for the Hokies and their fans as the women's basketball team secured a crucial ACC win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 73-68. A crowd of 3,499 took shelter in the coliseum and witnessed the Hokies improve to 16-9 and 5-4 in the ACC by answering every charge by the Yellow Jackets, who dropped to 14-9 and 5-4 in the conference with the loss.

Though the temperature was well below freezing outside, both teams came out on fire in the first half. The Hokies connected on six of their first eight shots; however, that was nothing compared to the Yellow Jackets, who were truly busy bees on the offensive end. After missing its first two shots of the game, Georgia Tech, which defeated No. 3 Maryland in its last game, buried 13 of its next 17 shots in running out to a 27-16 lead.

At that point, with about nine minutes remaining in the half, the Hokies began warming up again. The Hokies picked up the pace, leaking some players out in transition for some easy buckets en route to hitting 7-of-8 over the next four minutes. Tech ran off a 15-4 run to knot the score at 31 apiece.

"Georgia Tech started the game looking like they were shot out of a cannon," head coach Beth Dunkenberger said. "They were scoring at such a fast pace, but we picked up our defensive intensity and then we went on that great run."

Two Britney Anderson free throws at the 2:04 mark put the Hokies ahead 34-33, their first lead since it was 13-12. Georgia Tech drew even with a Stephanie Higgs free throw a short time later, but the Hokies scored six unanswered in the final minute to take a 40-34 lead into intermission.

The Hokies set a torrid pace in the first half, hitting 16-of-28 (57.1 percent). After their hot start, the Yellow Jackets cooled down considerably, making just one shot from the field in the final nine minutes of the half. The Hokies closed the half on a 24-7 run to take a lead they would never relinquish.

The first 12 minutes of the second half were much more balanced than the back-and-forth of the first half. The Hokies never led by more than eight or fewer than three points. But an 11-4 Yellow Jacket run, punctuated by a Jill Ingram 3-pointer, deadlocked the score at 58-58 with 6:24 to play.

On Tech's next possession, Nare Diawara was fouled and went to the line but missed the front end of a one-and-one. A Georgia Tech player came down with the rebound but was stripped from behind by Tech's Brittany Cook, who laid the ball in to put the Hokies back on top 60-58 with six minutes remaining.

The score would stay that way until the 3:11 mark when Tech's Laura Haskins hit a runner in the lane with the shot clock winding down to give the Hokies a little bit of breathing room. Each team scored on its next possession and the Yellow Jackets got a 16-foot jumper from Chioma Nnamaka to cut the lead back to two points, 64-62.

On the Hokies' next trip down the court, Cook drove to the hoop and hit a stumbling layup as she was fouled. She drained the free throw to complete the three-point play and put the Hokies up 67-62. The two teams again traded baskets - the Hokies getting a nice underhanded dish from Cook to Diawara on a fast break - and Georgia Tech added one more to keep it a one possession game, 69-66.

That was as close as the visitors would get, though. Georgia Tech began fouling and went cold from the field. The Hokies hit enough free throws to stretch the lead to 73-66 and a meaningless late basket by the Yellow Jackets provided the final score.

Kirby Copeland followed up her career high 28-point performance against Morehead State with 25 in the winning cause. Cook added 18 points and complemented it with seven rebounds, while Anderson chipped in 11. Laura Haskins pulled down a career high nine rebounds.

"It was a hard-fought, team victory," Cook said. "When we got down in the first half, we didn't fold. We knew we had to protect our home court and, with them coming off the big win against Maryland, we knew they'd be riding high."

The Hokies became eligible for postseason play with the win. With a minimum of six games left on their regular season and ACC conference schedule, the Hokies are guaranteed a winning record going into the postseason tournament selection process.

The competition doesn't get any easier for the Hokies as they travel to No. 6 Maryland on Thursday, Feb. 8. The game will tip off at 7 p.m.