March 23, 2004
The Virginia Tech Hokies' season came to an end on March 23 with a 61-48 loss to No. 1-seed Penn State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Cassell Coliseum. A crowd of 7,128, the eighth largest for a women's game, were on hand to cheer the Hokies, but a 27-6 second-half run spelled the demise of Tech's stay in the NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Lions improved to 27-5 and advance to the Sweet Sixteen, where they will take on Notre Dame.
The Hokies did not go down without a fight, however, they could not find an answer for Penn State's Tanisha Wright. Wright, named the Big Ten's defensive player of the year this season, decided to do her damage on offense against the Hokies, leading all scorers with 28 points.
Tech came out at the opening whistle and matched the No. 4 team in the country step for step, and even outplayed them in stretches. The two teams traded blows and changed leads 10 times. The Hokies landed the last shot with a 7-1 run to close out the first half and take a 28-25 lead at halftime.
Penn State's heaviest hitter was Wright, though, who scored 17 of Penn State's 25 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first frame. The Hokies tried numerous defenders on her but could not contain her.
The Hokies extended their lead to 32-27 early in the second half, with two of their points coming on Carrie Mason free throws following a Penn State technical foul. The technical was called on Penn State's bench and energized the Tech faithful.
Unfortunately for the Hokies, it also energized the Lady Lions. Penn State ripped off a 27-6 run following the technical foul, covering a span of nearly 11 minutes. When the Lady Lions finally emerged from the run, they held a 54-38 lead with just over six minutes remaining. Penn State point guard Jess Strom took advantage of the fact that Tech was paying such close attention to Wright and two time All-American Kelly Mazzante, scoring 10 points in the run.
"We weren't able to answer," Mason said of Penn State's run. "They were taking open 3-pointers and lay-ups and hitting the offensive glass and we couldn't answer them."
The Hokies played even with the Lions from that point on, but it was too little too late. Mason hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining to provide the final score.
Wright paced all players with 28 points and Strom scored 17. The Hokies held Mazzante to just nine points, but Penn State did not need her to be spectacular on this night.
"Our guards have free rein and a green light to do whatever they want offensively," Penn State head coach Rene Portland said. "But I think that tonight was about conditioning and our strength program."
Mason scored 16 points to lead the Hokies and Ieva Kublina scored 15 points in her final game as a Hokie. Kublina graduates as the third-leading scorer in the school's history with 1,647 points.
Tech finishes the season 23-8, its seventh straight 20-win season.
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
