March 22, 2007

Box Score

Virginia Tech 73, Auburn 81

 

BLACKSBURG, Va. - In a back-and-forth WNIT game at Cassell Coliseum, the final swing of the pendulum favored the visiting Auburn Tigers, who scored on their final 10 possessions to end Virginia Tech's season, 81-73. The Tigers move on to play the winner of the Illinois/Kansas State game, while the Hokies' season comes to a close with a 19-15 record.

"I think going into this tournament, when I looked at the brackets, Auburn is probably No. 65," Tech head coach Beth Dunkenberger said, implying that Auburn was the best team left out of the NCAA Tournament. "The worst team that they lost to had 18 wins on the year. They don't have a bad loss."

The Hokies came out of the gates quickly with a boost from their bench. Freshman Lindsay Biggs entered the game and promptly hit three consecutive shots, the last two 3-pointers, to help the Hokies claim their largest lead of the first half, 19-11. Tech connected on seven of their first 10 shots, including six in a row, to jump out to the early lead.

But the Tigers clawed their way back into the game with a 13-2 run over the next 5:17 to claim a slim 26-23 advantage. The Hokies went cold from the field in that stretch, making just 1-of-7 and missing several open shots. The two teams traded baskets for the next five minutes and Brittany Cook's trey at the 2:26 mark brought the Hokies to within one point, 33-32. But Auburn scored the final four points of the half, both baskets coming off of Tech turnovers, to stake themselves to a 37-32 halftime advantage.

The Hokies had some success against Auburn's zone defense early in the game, penetrating and dishing for open baskets. But over the final eight minutes of the half, Tech committed seven turnovers against the aggressive zone of the Tigers.

Tech switched its defenses up in the first half but primarily played a zone, while the Tigers played zone on every possession except Tech's final one. Yet in the second half, both teams opened in a man defense. The Hokies cut the Auburn lead to one-point three times within the first six minutes and finally regained the lead with two Britney Anderson free throws at the 14:08 mark, 44-43.

However, the Tigers reclaiming their edge, scoring on five of their next six trips to take a 53-48 lead at the second media timeout.

The game see-sawed back in Tech's favor with a 6-0 Hokie run, but a trey from Auburn's Tamela McCorvey, her third of the game, put the Tigers back in the lead, 56-54. Unfortunately for the Hokies, that would be the last time the lead changed hands in this game. A Cook 3-pointer brought the Hokies to within one point at 62-61, and a couple of possessions later the Hokies had an opportunity to tie or take the lead with the ball and the score 65-63, but Anderson missed a shot and then was whistled for an over-the-back foul.

Auburn made good on its final 10 trips down the floor and converted its free throws to build an insurmountable lead and walk out of Cassell Coliseum with the 81-73 victory. Anderson paced the Hokies in her final game with a career high 24 points, while Cook tied a career high with four treys en route to 14 points. Tech's two seniors besides Anderson, Kirby Copeland and Nare Diawara, finished in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Auburn set a torrid pace in the game, shooting 55 percent in the first half and 54 percent in the second. The Tigers also canned 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, all shots taken by McCorvey. DeWanna Bonner led the Tigers with 27 points and had a lot of success when the Hokies played a man defense. McCorvey scored 17 and did her damage against Tech's zone.

"We were struggling to guard 24 (Bonner) off the dribble, and we switched to a zone, and then 4 did her specialty, and that's hit open '3s'," Dunkenberger said. "It was kinda pick your poison."

On this night, both poisons spelled doom for the Hokies as the result was the end of Tech's season and the careers of three seniors.

"I'm extremely proud of what our three seniors did this year," Dunkenberger said. "They stepped up and led a very young team, and those three seniors had seasons that they should be proud of."