Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 13, 1994 TAG: 9403130092
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BILOXI, MISS. LENGTH: Medium
The Hokies won their first Metro Conference tournament championship and earned the first NCAA Tournament bid in the program's 17-year history.
They did so with a big push from junior forward Christi Osborne, the tournament's most valuable player. She's been MVP of the past three tournaments in which Tech has played and has been selected to the all-tournament squad in the Hokies' past seven tournaments.
Osborne is one of Tech's top players anyway, but is there anything more that makes her stand out? Hokies coach Carol Alfano points to Osborne's heart.
"That's why she's got a 3.9 [grade-point average in communications and early childhood development]," Alfano said Saturday morning. "When it's on the line, she just can elevate her game. She doesn't hide from anything."
Except, perhaps, attention.
Osborne had 19 points, five rebounds and seven assists in Friday's 83-76 victory over 19th-ranked Southern Mississippi. In Tech's three tournament games, she had 46 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists and only six turnovers in 108 minutes.
She then slipped through a question about her clutch play as smoothly as she would flick her accurate jump shot.
"Some of my better performances have come in tournaments," she said. "It's really been a team performance. I don't think any one person should be singled out to get MVP. There are so many people who don't get recognized who need to get recognized."
The Hokies' equal-opportunity offense - they had nine double-figure scoring outings in their Metro semifinal and final games - gets its next turn on Wednesday in an NCAA first-round game.
Tech's men's team is considered a good bet to make the National Invitation Tournament if it doesn't win the Metro's automatic bid this weekend. The NIT opens Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at campus sites. Alfano said Tech's bid for an NIT home game specified Cassell Coliseum would be available Thursday or Friday, leaving Wednesday open in case the women get an NCAA home game.
Alfano is hoping the Hokies are seeded eighth or even seventh in their 16-team region, which would mean a first-round home game. The pairings are scheduled to be announced today at 12:30 p.m. and will be shown live on ESPN.
First- and second-round games are at campus sites Wednesday and March 19 or 20. Regional semifinals and finals are March 24 and 26 at New Brunswick, N.J. (East); Fayetteville, Ark. (Mideast); Austin, Texas (Midwest); and Stanford, Calif. (West).
The women's Final Four is April 2-3 in Richmond, Va.
As for what region Tech will go to, Alfano said: "Gosh, I don't know. Uncharted waters."
Wherever they go, the Hokies will be trying to add more firsts to this season. On Friday, they became the winningest basketball team - men's or women's - in Tech history. The Hokies' 24 victories are one more than the Tech men had in 1982-83.
For once, Tech didn't psyche itself out before a big game, as it has several times against top programs such as Virginia and Tennessee.
"Last night [Friday], a couple of people told me, `Y'all didn't really look nervous,' " Osborne said. "We just went out there and played. That's how I felt.
"All the pressure was to get into the finals. Last night, we didn't really have anything to lose."
by CNB