Dec 3, 2003
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Dawn Chriss had a career-high 21 points and grabbedseven rebounds in No. 23 Virginia Tech's 79-72 victory over Old Dominion onWednesday night.
Ieva Kublina, a senior playing in her 100th career game, also scored 21points and had eight rebounds for Virginia Tech (5-0).
Erin Gibson added 20 points and nine rebounds to help the Hokies rally froma one-point halftime deficit.
With the victory, Virginia Tech coach Bonnie Henrickson improved to 17-0against teams from Virginia.
Trailing 47-43 with 15:09 left in the game, the Hokies went on an 8-0 run, capped by a Gibson layup at 12:17, to take a 51-47 lead they never relinquished. Lady Monarch leading scorer Monique Coker picked up her fourth foul at 15:39, opening the door for the Hokie run. The Hokies then outscored the Lady Monarchs 15-5 over the next 4:17 to push the lead to its largest, at 66-52 with eight minutes left. The Lady Monarchs trimmed the lead to single digits three times in the final eight minutes but never got any closer than seven points.
In the first half, the Hokies took a 31-22 lead with 4:37 left until halftime but watched as the Lady Monarchs rallied to hold them to only three points for the remainder of the first half. ODU outscored the Hokies 13-5 over that stretch to hold the one-point lead at the half.
For the game, the Hokies shot 50 percent (29-of-58), while ODU managed to shoot 44 percent. The 79 points marked the highest point total generated by the Hokies in the series. Shareese Grant led ODU with 21 points, while Coker, recording her fourth double-double effort had 18 and 10 rebounds. Lawona Davis notched 14.
Old Dominion returns to action on Sunday at the Ted Constant Convocation Center for the "Hoops for the Cure" game against North Carolina. Sunday's game with the Tar Heels will be aired on Cox Cable (Ch. 71) in the Hampton Roads area and later broadcast tape delayed on College Sports Television Network (CSTV).