Dec. 29, 2008
Box Score
BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Lafayette women's' basketball team dropped a 66-44 decision to Virginia Tech on the opening day of the Hokie Hardwood Classic as the Leopards remained winless on the road this season. Senior Cristin Zavocki celebrated her 22nd birthday with a 5-of-8 showing from three-point range to account for all of her team-high 15 points.
The Hokies (7-4) went to the free throw line 23 times to Lafayette's seven and held a 13-6 edge in second chance points and an 18-8 advantage in bench points. Sophomore Elizabeth Virgin joined Zavocki in double figures with 10 points.
The Hokies opened with an 8-4 advantage after four free throws in a span of less than a minute. With 12:16 on the clock, LaKeisha Wright drove to the basket to make it a two-point game (8-6) and Lauren Jackson's long two-pointer knotted the game at eight. Three minutes later Jackson fed the ball to Sarah McGorry whose layup gave Lafayette (5-8) its first lead of the game (12-11) with more than nine minutes to play.
Virginia Tech regained a 13-12 advantage with more than seven minutes remaining and proceeded to go on a 17-2 run. Utahya Drye scored six points during that stretch and Nikki Davis contributed four points from the free throw line as the Leopards racked up 11 first-half fouls. Lafayette missed on 11 of its final 12 field goal attempts and the team found itself in a 30-14 hole at the end of the first half.
Virgin scored the Leopards' first four points of the second half but the Hokies led by 19 (37-18) after a three-point play by Brittany Gordon at 17:57. The teams combined for seven three-pointers in a span of six minutes and Zavocki's trey with more than 11 minutes to play made it 50-31. Lindsay Biggs' back-to-back threes for Virginia Tech upped the Hokies' lead it 25 (56-31) with 10 minutes remaining.
Zavocki drained her fourth three at 3:15 but the Hokies remained up by 20 after Biggs' fourth basket of the half made it 64-44 with less than three minutes on the clock. Virginia Tech's Brittany Lewis scored the game's final basket to make it the final 22-point margin of victory. Drye finished with a game-high 17 points.
Lafayette takes on North Carolina A&T, which lost to Liberty in the day's first game, tomorrow at 5 p.m. on the final day of the tournament.
Postgame Notes:
- Elizabeth Virgin had a career-best four blocks.
- Jessica Spicer has 230 career assists and needs 23 more to tie Kim Costello '03 for seventh all-time.
- Emily Garner now has 29 career blocks, tying her with Chris Seiling '94 and Stephanie Hayes '03 for ninth all-time.
- The 14 first-half points scored by the Leopards matched the lowest first half total this season (14 vs. Middle Tennessee State, 11/15).
