March 21, 2004
When the Virginia Tech Hokies faced the Iowa Hawkeyes, it was the old case of the irresistible force and the immovable object as Iowa had never lost a first-round NCAA game and Tech had won its past seven postseason openers. However, the Hokies used hot shooting throughout the game to ultimately resist the Hawkeyes 89-76 at Cassell Coliseum on March 21, moving Tech into the second round.
The Hokies improved to 23-7 with the win, while Iowa dropped to 16-13.
The Hokies, whose offense was virtually non-existent in their last outing versus Connecticut in the BIG EAST tournament, could do no wrong against the Hawkeyes. Tech hit four of its first five shots, including two 3-pointers, to jump out to a 12-5 lead by the first media timeout. Iowa scored the next six points to cut the lead to one point, but Tech's Carrie Mason canned a 3-pointer after the Hokies grabbed two offensive rebounds on their next possession.
The Hokies shot 51.7 percent in the first half and held a 40-27 lead at intermission. The Hokies hit all six of their 3-point attempts in the half, with Mason hitting three and Ieva Kublina draining three. Tech's previous high for 3-pointers in a game this season was five. Tech also scored its 34th point of the game with 2:39 remaining in the first half. It took the Hokies an entire game against UConn to reach 34 points.
"The last couple of weeks, we worked on our offense a lot," Mason said. "Today we were able to make the extra pass and we were ready to shoot when we caught the ball."
Tech only got hotter in the second half. The Hokies pushed their lead to 19 points, 53-34, with 15 minutes to play. That was the largest advantage that the Hokies would claim.
Iowa eventually cut Tech's lead to seven points with a little over four minutes to play. A Kristi Faulkner 3-pointer capped an 8-0 Iowa run and made the score 74-67. However, Kublina knocked down two free throws on Tech's next possession to stem the bleeding. The Hokies hit their free throws down the stretch and Iowa never seriously threatened again.
Kublina led all scorers with 26 points for the Hokies. Mason scored 19 points while Kerri Gardin and Dawn Chriss joined them in double figures with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Iowa was led by Jennie Lillis' 22 points. Faulkner finished with 20 points, center Jamie Cavey contributed 14, and Crystal Smith chipped in 10 points.
The Hokies shot 67 percent in the second half (20-of-30) and 59 percent for the game. Iowa came into the game allowing 73 points per contest. Iowa tried mixing up its defenses between zone and man, and even pressed on a couple of occasions, but could not find an answer for the Hokies. The Hokies hit 7-of-8 3-point attempts, with the only miss resulting from a block, and Tech's 89 points were the most for a Tech team in the NCAA Tournament.
"Kublina was somebody that we just did not have an answer for," Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said. "We gave up too many uncontested 3-point shots in the first half of the game and that ultimately was the difference in the game. Our defense just wasn't there."
Tech, the No. 8 seed in the East bracket, will play the winner of No. 1 Penn State and No. 16 Hampton on Tuesday, March 23 at Cassell Coliseum. Game time has yet to be determined.
For feedback on Virginia Tech Athletics,
send an e-mail to hokipoki@vt.edu
This Site Maintained by the Virginia Tech Athletics Internet Services staff.
Information on the site written and provided by the Virginia Tech Sports Information staff.
For more information send an e-mail to hokipoki@vt.edu
Ticket Market Place
Travel Center & Info
Sports Radio Network | FAQs
