Collegiate Times

The Virginia Tech women’s basketball team has yet to win in 2011, as the Hokies were handed their seventh consecutive loss Thursday night, falling to Georgia Tech, 78-57.

Earlier in the season, coach Beth Dunkenberger expressed her confidence in this year’s team, despite its inexperience.

“We want to go to the NCAA Tournament,” Dunkenberger said. “We expect to be there every year and that’s how we’re preparing.”

The Hokies, now 0-6 in ACC play, have long lost their NCAA Tournament aspirations. An ACC win may even be unrealistic, with upcoming games against UNC, Maryland and Duke, among others.

The Hokies began the first half with a different starting lineup from their previous game against Virginia. Dunkenberger has experimented with different groups of five throughout the season, unable to find the cohesiveness she desires.

“We are trying to find some intensity,” Dunkenberger said. “We went with the four guard lineup tonight and I think we only had 13 turnovers.”

Georgia Tech grabbed its first lead of the game five minutes into the first half, thanks to Deja Foster’s lay up in the paint. A minute later Nikki Davis responded, landing a three-pointer and giving the Hokies a two-point lead.

Davis, one of just three seniors on the team, ended the game with seven points and three assists, yet also committed four turnovers.

Sophomore guard Alyssa Fenyn led the Hokies with 17 points, coming off a game against Virginia in which she did not start. Both teams played with a lot of emotion, as an intentional foul on Georgia Tech’s Alex Montgomery and a double technical foul on Tech’s Aerial Wilson and Georgia Tech’s Chelsea Regins were called within just 10 seconds of each other in the first half.

“It was just a physical, intense game,” Dunkenberger said.

The Yellow Jackets broke away toward the end of the first half, thanks to Tyaunna Marshall’s eight points in the last four minutes.

Marshall, the freshman out of Maryland, finished the game with 22 points. Marshall has been named the ACC Rookie of the Week five times this season, averaging 13.5 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game coming into Thursday night’s matchup.

The half ended with Georgia Tech on top, 35-26.

An old fashioned 3-point play by Fenyn jumpstarted the second half for the Hokies, but the Yellow Jackets quickly responded, extending their lead to 12 just three minutes into the half. Georgia Tech’s 30-10 run in the first nine minutes sealed the deal, as Tech was unable to bounce back.

The Hokies could not seem to buy a basket, shooting just 29.7 percent from the field. Georgia Tech, on the other hand, was 29-of-58.

“We shot a lot of pull up jumpers off the dribble with somebody right on us. That’s a hard shot to hit,” Dunkenberger said. “When we get impatient on offense, we shoot a lower percentage shot, and therein lies the trouble.”

Tech’s last NCAA Tournament appearance was 2006, and its last NIT appearance was 2007. The past three years, the Hokies have failed to make a postseason appearance of any kind. Once again, it is unlikely that Tech will compete in any postseason play.

Yet despite what the future may hold, the Hokies must turn their focus to their next ACC match-up this Sunday at North Carolina at 2 p.m.

“We obviously know that we haven’t won a game in the ACC yet,” Fenyn said. “Obviously it bothers us, but we still come out and fight every game with intensity.”

What will be the focus headed into Sunday?

“We’ve got to be ready to hang on to the ball,” Dunkenberger said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re ready to defend the paint and rebound.”

A version of this article appeared in the Jan 28 issue of the Collegiate Times.