Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 2, 1994 TAG: 9402020141
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
The Virginia Tech senior was scoreless - 0-for-4 on field-goal attempts - Tuesday night against Radford until the last 3 1/2 minutes.
During that period, she made 10 straight free throws as the Hokies turned back a Radford rally and won a non-conference women's basketball game 72-63 before 750 spectators at the Dedmon Center.
Tech never trailed and led by as many as 15 in the second half before Radford outscored Tech 25-14 over a nearly 14-minute stretch. The Highlanders cut it to three with 57 seconds left - helped by four out of five free throw misses by Tech - but Logsdon made two for a 66-61 Tech lead with 39 seconds left.
Shannan Wilkey's basket chopped the lead three again, but Logsdon tossed in two more free throws with 30 seconds left to make it 68-63.
Logsdon said she couldn't remember going scoreless from the field and making all her free throws. Then again, she figures it's not all that remarkable.
"For me, I go to the line, and I relax, and I shoot the shot," said Logsdon, from Barberton, Ohio. "It's just a free throw."
This wasn't just another victory in Tech's 14-4 season. The Highlanders (7-9) threw a serious scare into Tech, which has followed a three-game losing streak with a three-game winning streak.
Tech players and coach Carol Alfano credited Radford, but the Hokies also flunked themselves.
"There might have been a few times maybe we panicked," Tech's Christi Osborne said.
"I wouldn't give us a good rating tonight. . . . We let them take us out of our game plan. Therefore, we had to play their game plan."
RU's designs almost worked, but untimely mistakes foiled the Highlanders.
Down 63-59 with 2 minutes, 58 seconds left, Mindy Ballinger's bounce pass on the wing for Radford leading scorer Wilkey went wide and out of bounds. Then after a Radford steal, Wilkey missed.
After Tech's Lisa Leftwich missed a free throw, Ballinger airballed a 3-pointer. Radford got it back, but Samantha Gilbert missed inside. Radford rebounded, but Eve Kendall shot long from point-blank range.
Tech's Jenny Root sank a free throw before Wilkey made two to make it 64-61 with 57 seconds left. Radford forced a five-second call on Tech's inbounds play, but when Kendall was fouled, she missed the front end of a one-and-one.
After that, Logsdon lived at the free-throw line.
Radford coach Lubomyr Lichonczak wasn't moaning after the game, however, for several reasons.
One of his best players, forward Nicole Gardiner, didn't start and played 21 minutes after experiencing numbness in her left arm during the day; doctors don't know what caused it.
Radford's presses bothered Tech, and for a time in the second half, Radford shut down Tech's potent inside game with sagging defense. And Gilbert, a senior who hadn't hit a field goal in two games, had four in the second half.
"It's tough to say we're pleased with a loss, but for us, this is the best we've played in a long time," Lichonczak said.
Alfano said she thought Tech had gotten through a tough stretch when it beat James Madison on the road by 14 and Louisville at home by 18 in its past two games.
"A non-conference game at this time of the year - who knows?" Alfano said.
The Hokies may have been wiping their brows with relief, but Logsdon said that feeling isn't their only souvenir.
"It's satisfaction," she said. "We didn't take Radford lightly. We showed poise at the end, and did things at the end that were good." \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB