ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603040111
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
TYPE: ATLANTIC 10 WOMEN
SOURCE: CHAD WILLIS STAFF WRITER
The Virginia Tech women's basketball team pushed Murphy's Law to new boundries in Saturday's Atlantic 10 conference quarterfinals.
The Hokies shot a lowly 21 percent (4-of-19), scored 15 points and committed 12 turnovers in the first half en route to a 64-42 whipping at the hands of Massachusetts.
Tech's 15 first half points was the team's lowest total for a half since 1978, when they scored 12 against Virginia.
UMass (20-8), the East division's second seed, advances to face West No. 1 George Washington in today's 6 p.m. semifinal.
For Tech and coach Carol Alfano, Saturday's debacle is the end of a trying 11-17 campaign.
"It's been a tough year for us with injuries and inexperience,'' Alfano said. "I thought we could be a little closer to .500, but this team played really hard all year and didn't point any fingers.''
While the Hokies spent the first 20 minutes shooting blanks, the Minutewomen offense was exploding like a colonial powder keg.
"Anytime you hold a team to 15 points in a half, you've got to be happy with your effort,'' UMass coach Joanie O'Brien said. "Plus our offense was really clicking, especially in the first half.''
UMass reeled off runs of 20-2 and 11-3 in building a 25 point halftime buldge. The Minutewomen hit at a 53 percent clip in the first half and 51 percent for the game.
"We were a step slow the entire game,'' Alfano said. "I don't think last night [Tech's 90-78 double overtime win over Fordham] was a factor. We were just a day late and a dollar short.''
Four UMass players, led by Melissa Gurile's 15 points, scored in double figures. Michelle Hollister hit for 13 and Renee Maitland came off the bench, scoring 12 for the Hokies.
Hollister, who scored a career high 33 points the night before, was harrassed into a 4-of-14 shooting performance by the UMass defense.
"It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out where their offense comes from,'' O'Brien said. "We wanted to stop Hollister and make other players play great games tonight.''
Alfano said Tech offensive woes were a result of UMass' interior game.
"We changed a lot of shots early and faded away a lot,'' Alfano said. "We had them in some early foul trouble, we just didn't do a good job of taking advantage of it.''
MASSACHUSETTS (64)
Thomas 4-9 4-4 12, Carroll 5-9 1-1 11, Gurile 6-8 3-4 15, Kuzmeski 1-4 0-0 3, Mitchell 1-5 0-0 3, Hopson 0-2 2-2 2, Madajova 0-0 2-2 2, Rayside 3-3 0-1 7, Tudman 0-0 0-0 0, Bradley 4-6 2-2 10, Carter 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 24-47 14-16 64.
VIRGINIA TECH (42)
O'Conner 1-5 0-0 2, Nolley 2-5 2-2 6, Hollister 4-14 5-8 13, Garland 0-2 1-2, Banks 0-4 0-0 0, Maitland 2-4 7-8 12, Witherspoon 0-0 0-2 0, Gray 0-1 0-0 0, Lee 2-5 4-6 8, Totals 11-46 19-28 42.
Halftime: 40-15, Massachusetts. Three-point goals- UMass 2-8 (Kuzmeski 1-4, Mitchell 1-2, Hopson 0-2), Tech 1-6 (O'Conner 0-1, Banks 0-1, Maitland 1-3, Gray 0-1). Fouled out- None. Rebounds- UMass 38 (Carroll 8), Tech 24 (Lee 6). Assists- UMass 12 (Bradley 3), Tech 3 (O'Conner, Nolley, Maitland). Total fouls- UMass 21, Tech 14. Technicals- None. Attendance- 1177.
George Washington 82, Xavier 61: All-conference center Tajama Abraham scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds, leading the Colonials to victory.
The Colonials (23-6), the West division's top seed, used a 20-6 first-half run to build a 40-26 halftime lead against the Musketeers (15-13), the West's No.5 seed.
Lisa Cermignano (20 points), Myriah Lonergan (18) and Mandisa Turner (10) scored in double figures for George Washington. Xavier was led by Amy Siefring's 11 points.
The Colonials starting frontcourt dominated play, outscoring the Muskateers 51-27.
George Washington advances to face Massachusetts, the East's No.2 seed, today at 6.
La Salle 65, St. Joseph's 62: The Explorers (18-9) dodged a possible overtime when Hawks (16-12) forward Megan Compain's game-tying 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left was waved off because of a traveling violation.
La Salle was led by Chrissie Donahue's 25 points and 11 rebounds. St.Joseph's placed four players in double figures, led by Compain's 19 points. Compain also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
La Salle moves on to today's 8:30 p.m. semifinal round game where it will face East No.1 Rhode Island, a 90-55 winner over Temple, the East No.5.
Rhode Island 90, Temple 55: The Rams (21-6) forced 25 turnovers and shot 49 percent (34-of-69) from the field in their rout of the tournament long-shot Owls (7-21).
Rhode Island all-conference point guard Danya Smith dished out 15 assists, helping six players reach double figures in scoring, led by Jamie Grey's 17 points.
Claudrena Harold paced Temple with 14 points and six rebounds.
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