TODAY'S STAR
Porschia Hadley, Virginia Tech
- Sophomore center from (The Halls of) Montezuma, Ga. blocked Courtney Hurt's layup with two seconds remaining to preserve Virginia Tech's 63-61 overtime decision over VCU. “Porschia’s a great shot blocker,” Tech head coach Beth Dunkenberger said. “She’s long and she’s got great timing. She gave some extra effort on that one."
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Virginia made just 4 of its first 35 field-goal attempts before rallying past feisty Longwood.
- Cavaliers freshman Jazmin Pitts had 12 points and 5 rebounds in just 15 minutes in her first game since she suffered a head injury in Virginia's season opener at Hofstra.
- Norfolk State's Carlon Chambers, the hero of Saturday's night's overtime victory over Central Arkansas, saw her consecutive field-goal streak end at seven when she missed a layup at 15:24 of the first half Sunday against Morehead State. The freshman then went 3-for-3 from the field the rest of the way.
PREDICTION REPORT
Told ya! - Morehead State 75, Norfolk State 60. We said - Morehead State 70, Norfolk State 56
Uh, we can explain... - Virginia Tech 63, VCU 61 (OT). We said - VCU 68, Virginia Tech 62 (No OT)
Saturday's record: 4-1. Overall record: 31-10
THE GAMES
Virginia Tech 63, VCU 61 (OT): Talk about evenly matched. This game featured 14 ties, and the teams were never separated by more than 4 points...In addition to her game-saving block, Hadley also snapped the final tie by making 1 of 2 free throws with 49 seconds left in OT. Nikki Davis also made 1 of 2 from the line with 21 seconds to go for the Hokies, who prevailed despite a 12-for-21 effort from the line. Hurt finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds (but 8 turnovers) for the Rams (2-1), and freshman Jackie Brewer added 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Shanel Harrison paced the Hokies (4-0) with 18 points and Taylor Ayers chipped in a career-high 14 points and 9 rebounds.
Virginia 74, Longwood 63: What an effort by the Lancers (1-3), who punched the Cavaliers in the face from the jump and continued hammering away en route to a 16-point first-half lead. "I want to congratulate Longwood," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "I thought they played a very strong game today and I was very impressed with some of their new players and how scrappy they were." As for the Cavs, well, having just come from Tennessee and with a trip to the Virgin Islands on the horizon, perhaps it shouldn't be surprising the Cavaliers weren't totally focused in on this one. Ryan sensed it quickly and subbed out her entire starting five a little over two minutes into the game. They still staggered through virtually the entire first half before snapping out of it. To Longwood's credit, even after the Cavs found their rhythm the Lancers dug in and were down just 59-58 with less than six minutes remaining before a Whitny Edwards jumper triggered the 11-0 run that finally gave the Cavs some separation. Freshman and Ladyswish favorite Bria White led the Lancers with a career-high 17 points. For Virginia, Ariana Moorer followed up her 24-point effort against Tennessee with a 19-point, 8-rebound, 5-assist line.
Wake Forest 82, William and Mary 64: The Tribe (0-3) should feel pretty good about putting up 64 points - their previous high was 47 - and seeing Jaclyn McKenna, Katherine DeHenzel, Taysha Pye and freshman Kaitlyn Mathieu all finish in double figures. But 32.4 percent field goal shooting isn't going to cut it, nor are the 20 turnovers that led to 29 Wake Forest points.
Pittsburgh 77, Radford 46: Predictably tough matchup for the Highlanders (1-2), who trailed by 42 early in the second half before Pitt called off the Panthers. Front and center among Radford's myriad of problems Sunday was the Highlanders' 24-percent field goal shooting. Ironically, they practically couldn't miss from the free throw line (15 of 16).
Morehead State 75, Norfolk State 60: Guess they're not going to go undefeated after all. Still, it was a statement-making three days in Kentucky for a Spartans team that may be finally getting up off the Division I canvas. As for Sunday, Morehead State's Ashar Harris dominated with 30 points and 13 rebounds. Batavia Owens had 17 points and 11 rebounds in defeat for NSU.
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