March 23, 2007

Virginia Beats South Florida, 73-71; Travels to Wisconsin for WNIT Quarterfinal on Sunday Afternoon

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - For the second consecutive time in Women's NIT play, Virginia sealed its victory in the waning seconds of play. This time freshman Monica Wright (Woodbridge, Va.) stole the ball on an in-bounds play, preventing South Florida from winning the game with just three seconds on the clock. The Cavaliers won the WNIT third round game, 73-71 on Thursday at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia improved to 19-14 overall, while the Bulls concluded their season at 21-12.

Virginia now travels to Wisconsin for the WNIT Quarterfinals on Sunday, March 25 at 1:30 p.m. CT at the Kohl Center in Madison. The Badgers beat Kentucky, 67-61, in third round action on Thursday to advance.

UVa and USF got off to a a slow start as each team had several turnovers before scoring any points. The squads traded baskets before South Florida went ahead by eight, 22-14. The Cavaliers then utilized a 10-1 run to go ahead by one, 26-25 on a lay-up by Wright. UVa held a three-point edge at halftime, 34-31.

Sophomore Lyndra Littles (Washington, D.C.) paced UVa with 23 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Williams followed with 13 points and eight boards, while Wright and freshman Paulisha Kellum (Upper Marlboro, Md.) added 11 points each.

Virginia Tech's season ends with 81-73 loss to Auburn

BLACKSBURG, Va. - In a back-and-forth WNIT game at Cassell Coliseum, the final swing of the pendulum favored the visiting Auburn Tigers, who scored on their final 10 possessions to end Virginia Tech's season, 81-73. The Tigers move on to play the winner of the Illinois/Kansas State game, while the Hokies' season comes to a close with a 19-15 record.

The Hokies came out of the gates quickly with a boost from their bench. Freshman Lindsay Biggs entered the game and promptly hit three consecutive shots, the last two 3-pointers, to help the Hokies claim their largest lead of the first half, 19-11. Tech connected on seven of their first 10 shots, including six in a row, to jump out to the early lead.

But the Tigers clawed their way back into the game with a 13-2 run over the next 5:17 to claim a slim 26-23 advantage. The Hokies went cold from the field in that stretch, making just 1-of-7 and missing several open shots. The two teams traded baskets for the next five minutes and Brittany Cook's trey at the 2:26 mark brought the Hokies to within one point, 33-32. But Auburn scored the final four points of the half, both baskets coming off of Tech turnovers, to stake themselves to a 37-32 halftime advantage.