ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290055
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
The Virginia Tech women's basketball team has one last shot at a third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid.
``We've got to win four games in a row on our home court,'' coach Carol Alfano said Wednesday. ``That's certainly not impossible by any means.''
Tech's task starts Friday, when the first round of the 1996 Atlantic 10 Conference tournament tips off at Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies (10-16 overall, 8-8 A-10), the No.3 seed in the West Division, will face East No.6 Fordham (9-18, 3-13) at 6 p.m. Tech beat the Rams 75-59 on Jan.3 in the Bronx, N.Y.
Leading the Hokies will be sophomore center Michele Hollister, who was named second-team All-Atlantic 10 on Wednesday. Hollister averaged 18.8 points and 9.2 rebounds during the regular season.
Duquesne guard Korie Hlede was named player of the year, Rhode Island's Jaime Gray was the rookie of the year - joining Tech's Katie O'Connor (9.2 points per game) on the all-rookie team - and Rhode Island's Linda Ziemke was chosen as coach of the year. (Complete teams and tournament pairings in Scoreboard. B2)
In other first-round games Friday , West No.6 Dayton (9-17, 4-12) takes on East No.3 St. Joseph's (15-11, 9-7) at noon; West No.5 Xavier (14-12, 7-9) meets East No.4 St.Bonaventure (12-14, 6-10) at 2:30 p.m.; and West No.4 Duquesne (13-13, 8-8) faces East No.5 Temple (8-20, 3-13) at 8:30 p.m.
If the Hokies win Friday night, they will meet East No.2 Massachusetts (19-8, 11-5) at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
Sunday's semifinals will be played at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Both games can be seen in this area on a tape-delayed basis on Monday, starting at 1 p.m., on Home Team Sports.
Monday's championship game, which will be televised live by ESPN2, will tip off at 5 p.m.
George Washington is the defending champion.
Tickets for the tournament can be purchased at Tech's ticket office or by calling 1-800-VATECH4.
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