Thursday, December 30, 2010

Hampton, Virginia Tech and ODU go for tournament titles

Thursday's games

Georgia State Invitational, at Georgia State
- Final: Hampton (7-4) at Georgia State (5-5), 4 p.m.
The Lady Pirates will be going for their seventh straight victory. We're somewhat concerned about Hampton's  reliance on its starters in the second day of a back-to-back situation such as this. But the Lady Pirates unveiled some unknown depth in Wednesday's win over Troy State with the debut of Nicole Hamilton. How unknown? Hamilton isn't listed on the website's roster or the team's official game notes (There was a pretty nice guard out of Phoebus a few years ago by that name. Wonder if it's her....). But while we're not sure who it is, we are sure she's not bashful. In her first game as a Lady Pirate, Hamilton jacked up 13 shots, 7 from 3-point range, in her 20-minute debut. Nope, not a bashful bone in her body. Hampton 58, Georgia State 48

Hilton Garden Classic, at Virginia Tech
Final: Vanderbilt (9-3) at Virginia Tech (8-4), 7 p.m.
A good opportunity for the Hokies, who got a good workout yesterday against Alcorn State and will be playing at home with (hopefully) a nice crowd spurring them on. They'll need it against these Commodores, who hiccuped a bit earlier this month with injuries but are healthy now and have won five straight behind a deep and diverse roster. Tech has won three straight, but those opponents (Alcorn State, William and Mary and Radford) are a combined 3-25 against Division I teams this season so they're stepping up in class big-time today. Simply put, these guys ain't those guys.  Vanderbilt 72, Virginia Tech 62

Tulane DoubleTree Classic, at Tulane
- Final: Old Dominion at Tulane, 4 p.m.
The victory over Charlotte makes this trip a success for the Lady Monarchs no matter what happens today. But why not get greedy? Tulane has a lot of weapons, can compete effectively with big or small lineups and will be comfortable playing in their own building. Still, the Green Wave turned it over 26 times Wednesday against Nicholls State, so the Lady Monarchs may be able to rattle them defensively. We don't really expect ODU to shoot and pass the ball (19 assists) as well as it did against Charlotte. Then again, what do we know? We picked Charlotte. So Lady Monarchs, this pick's for you....  Old Dominion 65, Tulane 63

Other games

Richmond (8-4) at Radford (3-9), 5 p.m.
Let's hope the Highlanders were distracted by the impending holiday break during last Wednesday's 79-49 home loss to VCU because if that kind of effort is all they have for these Spiders, they could lose this one by 50. Time to make a stand, guys. Richmond 68, Radford 53

Western Carolina (3-8) at James Madison (6-5), 7 p.m.
The Dukes return to action 10 days after their scintillating 82-80 victory over Virginia. Dawn Evans, who scored a school-record 42 points in that contest, will take the court as the nation's leading scorer (26.1 ppg). JMU 70, Western Carolina 58

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