Collegiate Times

In their first contest of Atlantic Coast Conference play, the Virginia Tech women's basketball team showed up to Cassell Coliseum in high spirits, coming off a 64-31 win over the Presbyterian Blue Hose. However those feelings wore off by game's end.

The matchup with the Florida State Seminoles began with a jolt as Hokie sophomore guard Nikki Davis stole the jumped ball from Tanae Davis-Cain.  Although it seemed like a great start, it foreshadowed what was to come later in the first half: a series of missed opportunities.

Nothing seemed to be going Tech's way as they shot 8-for-30 from inside the circle in the first.  The only thing keeping Tech alive was the consistent free-throw shooting from junior forward Utahya Drye.  Drye went 8-for-8 when it came to foul shots and calculated 18 points total by the end of the night.

With 5:02 left in the first Tech began to get its momentum back, scoring seven unanswered points and brought the deficit down to nine at halftime.  Freshman forward Shanel Harrison, responsible for nine of Tech's 27 first half points, had 11 rebounds in the game, earning her second double-double of the season.  Her first came on Dec. 14 against visiting James Madison where Harrison had 10 rebounds and a career high of 14 points. 

Harrison is still getting a feel for the collegiate level of play.

"I'm beginning to adjust to the faster paced games and the bigger size of the girls on the college level," she said.

At the start of the second, Tech immediately tried to regain the momentum they ended the first half with, but were pushed all the way back to a 19 point deficit when Florida State's Cierra Brevard made a layup with 12:39 left in regulation, bringing the score to 52-33.

However from that point on Tech began to chip away at that deficit, bringing the 1458 fans in attendance at Cassell back into the game.

When the clock moved down past the five-minute mark, Tech's score had moved up as they outscored the Seminoles 17-6 since their biggest deficit of the half.  With 4:04 seconds remaining, Utahya Drye was brought back to the line as she was fouled by Seminole guard Mara Freshour.  After making both shots Tech seemed to be back on their feet and back in the game. 

After Freshour tried responding to Tech's comeback with a crowd-hushing three-pointer, Tech's junior guard Lindsay Biggs immediately answered with a three-pointer of her own bringing the score to 55-61.

Right under the two-minute mark Biggs narrowed the point difference again, with a free throw shot bringing the deficit down to five points, a mark it had not reached since the first 2:24 in the first.  The wheels were turning for the Hokies, but their comeback came too late. 

With 0:16 left in the game the score was narrowed to 65-63 and the game was still in reach.  With the ball in the hands of FSU, Tech senior guard Laura Haskins forced a foul in which FSU capitalized on.  Once the ball was rebounded by Tech offense, the clock ran down and Biggs was not able to put the ball into the net in time to force a tie.

"When it came down to it I couldn't get my hands on it and get a good spot for the three," Biggs said of the game's final moments.

Although the score might not have reflected it throughout, Tech head coach Beth Dunkenberger was pleased with the team's performance and second half heroics.

"You can tell that we are really beginning to come together, and that the girls are beginning to gel and play well as a team," Dunkenberger said.

The team has many more opportunities this season to prove themselves in the ACC and elsewhere.  Next up will be an ACC match-up this Sunday at Boston College where the lady Hokies will have the opportunity to even up their conference record.