Nobody better on the boards than NSU's Gordon

Nobody rebounds any better than Rachel Gordon in Division I.

The Norfolk State senior is the top rebounder in the nation with 15 boards per game through games played through Sunday.

The 6-1 forward snagged a gaudy 26 rebounds (a career high) on Nov. 29 against Texas-Pan American. She's also this week's MEAC Defensive Player of the Week, having pulled down 40 rebounds in two games to go with five blocks and four steals.

But try as we might, we couldn't get the NSU player to brag on herself.

"There is always room for improvement, and my rebounding is a team effort. We all work hard to box out our competitors," she says.

Even when we asked if it must feel pretty good to see your name before all others in the latest NCAA stats, Gordon remained humble.

Says Gordon: "I was unaware of it until my mom told me tonight, but there is always room for improvement."

NSU, by the way, is second to Hampton in the MEAC in rebounding margin.

Statistical leaders, through Nov. 28

VCU's Robyn Parks

The Top 13 performers among the state's Division I teams in basketball's Triple Crown stats (points, rebounds, assists) through the games of Nov. 28, with total games played, statistical total and the average.

Points

1. Robyn Parks, VCU                               6     122   20.3

2. Kirby Burkholder, JMU                        4       78  19.5

3. Daeisha Brown, Longwood                  5       93  18.6

4. Alyssa Bennett, Hampton                     5       90  18.0

5. Taylor Brown, George Mason              7      125 17.9

6. Uju Ugoka, Virginia Tech                     6      104 17.3

7. Malia Tate-DeFreitas, Hampton           5       86  17.2

8. Rae Corbo, Norfolk State                     4       65  16.3

9. Janaa Pickard, George Mason              7     113  16.1

10. Kaitlyn Mathieu, William and Mary   4      64  16.0

11. Shae Kelley, Old Dominion                6      90   15.0

12. Stephanie Gardner, Old Dominion      6      89  14.8

12. Ashley Rininger, Liberty                     5      74  14.8

Others: Marlena Tremba, William and Mary 14.5; Ataira Franklin, Virginia 14.0; Raven Williams, Longwood 14.0; Precious Hall, JMU 13.8; Vanessa Panousis, Virginia Tech 13.7; Nicole Hamilton, Hampton 13.4; Sandra Ngoie, George Mason 13.0; Faith Randolph, Virginia 13.0; Isis Thorpe, VCU   12.8; Ayana Avery, Radford 12.7; Keira Robinson, VCU 12.3; Kyla Kerstetter, William and Mary 11.8; Monet Tellier, Virginia Tech 11.8; Ebony Brown, Norfolk State 11.5; Quineshia Leonard, Norfolk State 11.0; Genevieve Okoro, Richmond 10.5; Liv Healy, Richmond 10.5; Sarah Imovbioh, Virginia 10.5; Jessica Pellechio, VCU 10.2; Sadalia Ellis, Liberty 10.0.

Rebounds

1. Rachel Gordon, Norfolk State               4      50    12.5

2. Janaa Pickard, George Mason               7      76    10.9

3. Robyn Parks, VCU                                6      64    10.7

4. Ashley Rininger, Liberty                       5      53    10.6

5. Shae Kelley, Old Dominion                   6      63    10.5

5. Kirby Burkholder, JMU                         4      42    10.5

7. Uju Ugoka, Virginia Tech                      6       62   10.3

8. Liz Brown, Richmond                           3       27     9.0

9. Kaitlyn Mathieu, William and Mary      4       34    8.5

9. Genevieve Okoro, Richmond                 6      51    8.5

11. Talisha Watts, George Mason              7      58    8.3

11. Hannah Young, Virginia Tech              6      50    8.3

13. Sarah Imovbioh, Virginia                      6      49    8.2

Others: Khalilah Ali, Longwood 8.0; Alyssa Bennett, Hampton 8.0; Brielle Ward, Hampton 8.0; Ayana Avery, Radford 7.7; Katelyn Adams, Liberty 7.0; Liv Healy, Richmond 6.8; Quineshia Leonard, Norfolk State 6.8; Daeisha Brown, Longwood 6.7; Nicole Hamilton, Hampton 6.7; Heather Tobeck, Longwood 6.7; Jazmon Gwathmey, JMU  6.5; Jordynn Gaymon, Radford 6.3; Rachael Ross, Radford 6.3; Toia Giggetts, JMU 6.3; Taijah Campbell, Virginia Tech 6.2; Sandra Ngoie, George Mason 5.9; Monet Tellier, Virginia Tech 5.8; Kiera McIvor, Radford 5.5; Kristina King, Richmond     5.2; Catherine Kearney, Liberty 5.0; Chelisa Painter, Old Dominion 5.0.

Assists

1. Angela Mickens, JMU                              4   24    6.0

2. Taylor Brown, George Mason                  7   37    5.3

3. Monet Tellier, Virginia Tech                     6   31    5.1

4. Keira Robinson, VCU                               6   30    5.0

5. Vanessa Panousis, Virginia Tech              6   27    4.5

6. Nicole Hamilton, Hampton                       5   20    4.0

7. Rae Corbo, Norfolk State                         4   15    3.8

8. Deborah Headen, Longwood                    3   11    3.7

9. Emily Frazier, Liberty                               5   18    3.6

10. Jazmen Boone, William and Mary         4   14    3.5

10. Kermisha Clark, Radford                       4   14    3.5

12. Kelsey Wolfe, Virginia                           6   20    3.3

13. Daeisha Brown, Longwood                    5   16    3.2

13. Sadalia Ellis, Liberty                              5    16   3.2

13. Breshara Gordon, Radford                     6   19    3.2

Others: Jazamine Gray, Norfolk State 3.0; Ashlee Mitchell, VCU 3.0; Faith Randolph, Virginia 3.0; Ataira Franklin, Virginia 2.8; Anna Kestler, William and Mary 2.8; Shae Kelley, Old Dominion 2.6; Galaisha Goodhope, Old Dominion 2.6; Kyana Jacobs, George Mason 2.3; Precious Hall, JMU 2.3; Jessica Pellechio, VCU 2.2; Kieera Basey, Norfolk State 2.0; Kristina King, Richmond 2.0.

Happy Thanksgiving from LadySwish

Thanksgiving wishes to our players, coaches, fans and followers. Promising lots of content next week. Have a blessed day.

No place like home for Radford's Breshara Gordon

Breshara, brother Terry and Ava Gordon

Ava Gordon didn't need any fancy birthday presents this year.

Being able to watch daughter Breshara dribbling up and down the court in her own hometown was all the gift she needed.

"I can't tell you how much it means seeing her out there, especially on my birthday weekend," said Norfolk's Ava Gordon after her daughter's Radford Highlanders made stops at Norfolk State and Old Dominion Friday and Sunday. Breshara Gordon formerly starred at Norfolk's Lake Taylor High.

Evidently it also meant a lot to "Team Bre," the roughly 30-member contingent of siblings, aunts, uncles, friends and classmates who turned out in bold, Radford-red T-shirts in support of the Highlanders senior guard.

"Yeah, I saw them all up there," Gordon said with a smile. "It felt good."

Ironically, Breshara Gordon almost wasn't fit to perform at her own party. A victim of her second ACL injury in three years - one for each knee - the Highlanders guard was questionable to start the season.

That is, except to the mind and will of Breshara herself.

"This was the goal all through rehab, to be able to play in these games in Norfolk," she said.

Breshara wasn't out there half-stepping, either. Despite wearing a protective sleeve on her left knee and a brace on her right, Gordon said she felt great on the court. It showed in her play, too, as with Gordon operating with poise and discipline, the Highlanders played winning ball in both games for large stretches.

And when she sat down, things got away from the Highlanders. Against Norfolk State, the Highlanders trailed by just 40-36 when Gordon took a seat with 11:33 left. When she returned at the 8:34 mark, Radford was down nine. The Highlanders went on to lose 66-54.

Two days later, Radford trailed Old Dominion 34-33 when Gordon took a seat after picking up her fourth foul with 11:29 remaining. When Gordon came back with 5:39 left, ODU was up 11 en route to a 19-point victory.

Of course, there was more to Radford's late-game struggles than just Gordon's absence. But it's clear that this otherwise youthful team operates better when its senior leader is on the floor.

 Despite the two losses though, "Team Bre" was still pumped they got to see their heroine in person. Not surprisingly, no one was more excited than Ava Gordon, who for the previous three years had made it a point to travel to wherever her daughter was playing when her birthday rolled around.

Thankfully, this year, she never had to leave town.

Mother and daughter reunion

Ex-UVa. great Wendy Palmer getting it done at UNCG

Wendy Palmer

It's taken a couple of years, but it looks like Virginia hoops legend Wendy Palmer now has UNC Greensboro headed in the right direction.

The long-struggling Spartans picked up what should be a confidence-boosting road victory for their third-year head coach Wednesday night when they rallied from 12 points down in the final 10 minutes to top Norfolk State 73-66 at Echols Arena.

"This was a great win for our young team," said Palmer, who was a two-time Kodak All-American at Virginia and the first woman in program history to eclipse 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. "They just showed so much resolve."

UNC Greensboro won just 12 games in Palmer's first two seasons combined, but the Spartans are re-establishing themselves with a roster than features nine underclassmen, six of them freshmen. First-year players Shanese Harris (a Chesapeake native), Bailey Williams (Harrisonburg) and Jade Scaife along with sophomore Lucy Mason were all in the starting lineup.

Still, it was a senior that actually wore Norfolk State out. Center Janae Stevenson was a low-post beast down the stretch and finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds. NSU actually did a decent job defending the post in the first half. But the 6-2 Stevenson went for 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting after the break, and when the game was on the line late, she got whatever she wanted.

The victory boosted UNCG's record to 2-2. But while the foundation appears to be in place for this to be the Spartans' best team in years, it doesn't sound as though Palmer is quite ready to take on her old school yet.

"I haven't even thought about that," Palmer said with a smile. "Honestly, my main focus is on building my program."

Assisting Palmer in this task is Darren Guensch, who joined the Spartans after spending four years in assistant coach/director of operations roles at VCU.

As for Norfolk State (1-2), that had to be one disappointed locker room after having allowed those other Spartans to walk them down like that. The key now will be how NSU handles such a defeat. A year ago, the Spartans blew a double-digit second-half lead at home in their second game against Wofford and basically spent the next several weeks in freefall.

Here's hoping for a more successful response to the UNCG setback.

Jacobs rescues George Mason

George Mason 60, Towson 58

We don't want to say George Mason senior guard Kyana Jacobs took over the game with her Patriots trailing Towson by eight down the stretch Tuesday night.

We'll let the official play-by-play report do it for us:

STEAL by JACOBS, Kyana                          02:55

GOOD! JUMPER by NGOIE, Sandra                   02:41  52-58 
ASSIST by BROWN, Taylor                         02:41
FOUL by JACOBS, Kyana (P2T9)                    02:28     
REBOUND (DEF) by (TEAM)                         02:28
GOOD! JUMPER by JACOBS, Kyana                   02:03  54-58
REBOUND (DEF) by JACOBS, Kyana                  01:48          
GOOD! LAYUP by PICKARD, Janaa [FB/PNT]          01:43  56-58
ASSIST by JACOBS, Kyana                         01:43
REBOUND (DEF) by JACOBS, Kyana                  01:15              
MISSED 3 PTR by BROWN, Taylor                   01:04              
MISSED LAYUP by BROWN, Taylor                   00:18
REBOUND (OFF) by WATTS, Talisha                 00:18
GOOD! JUMPER by WATTS, Talisha [PNT]            00:15  58-58
STEAL by JACOBS, Kyana                          00:04         
GOOD! FT SHOT by JACOBS, Kyana                  00:03  59-58
GOOD! FT SHOT by JACOBS, Kyana                  00:03  60-58

Kyana Jacobs

Talk about getting it done at both ends. Jacobs finished with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, and for those at the Patriot Center, it probably felt as though she put up all those numbers in the final 2:55. Janaa Pickard added 16 points and 6 rebounds and Sandra Ngoie chipped in 14 points as the Patriots (3-1) won their third straight.

Virginia Tech transfer LaTorri Hines-Allen led Towson with a career-high 20 points and 13 rebounds. 

Click here to read more about the Jabobs show, er, I mean the Patriots victory.

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LadySwish state rankings - through Nov. 18

Richmond's Liv Healy

No change at the top or bottom from our preseason rankings, but plenty of shuffling in between as long-dormant Virginia Tech asserts itself as a potential force while VCU unleases "Fury" in all its fast-paced glory. Rankings are through games of Nov. 18:

13. Radford (2-2)
Last week: 13
On Friday, the Highlanders trailed Norfolk State by just 40-36 with a little over 11 minutes left, only to fall behind by as many as 14 en route to a 12-point loss. Two days later, they actually led at Old Dominion with under 12 minutes to play and were down just three with less than 10 minutes remaining. The Lady Monarchs went on to win by 19. The two-game takeaway? The Highlanders may be undersized and undermanned, but if they can squeeze out 10 more quality minutes per night, they're going to shock some folks this season.
Next game: Friday at Wake Forest

12. William and Mary (0-2)
Last week: 9
A similar story with the Tribe, who have played winning basketball in the first half in both games so far - 25-23 lead on Longwood; 32-31 deficit at East Carolina - before the milk turned sour. New coach Ed Swanson still seems to be sorting out which combination of players work best together. The good news is he has a lot of solid candidates for minutes. He's also got an impact freshman in Marlena Tremba, the 5-9 guard from Vienna who is averaging a team-best 16.5 points in 25.5 minutes per game.

11. Norfolk State (1-1)
Last week: 12
Senior Rachel Gordon earned MEAC Defensive Player of the Week honors after her 16-point, 16-rebound effort against Radford. The 16 rebounds are hardly surprising for the ballhawking Gordon, particularly against the smaller Highlanders. But Gordon, who typically spends most of her time in the low post, also burned Radford with a few jump shots. If this is now a part of her game, this may have been the first of several big offensive nights.
Next game: Tuesday vs. High Point

10. Longwood (2-1)
Last week: 11
Utah Valley became the latest victim of the "Dae Dae Show," as Daeisha Brown went for 24 points, 21 in the second half, as the Lancers rallied for a 59-57 victory. The kid's amazing, folks. Props also to fellow sophomores Khalilah Ali (9.0 points, 9.0 rebounds), Raven Williams (14.0 ppg) and Kyndal Skersick (7.0 ppg) all of whom have stepped up their games from a year ago.
Next game: Thursday at Xavier

9. George Mason (2-1)
Last week: 10
Thought for sure Janaa Pickard (21 points, 21 rebounds against Utah Valley) would nab Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors. Then George Washington's Megan Nipe had to go out and drop 31 points on then-No. 10 Cal in the Colonials' first win over a Top-25 program in five years. Tough league, this A-10.
Next game: Tuesday vs. Towson

8. Liberty (0-2)
Last week: 6
The Lady Flames are struggling to score (56 points per game), have yet to flex their usual rebounding might and have surrendered 51 points off turnovers in their two games. That said, a lot of teams would be 0-2 if they opened at Charlotte and against JMU, particularly ones that are in retooling mode like Liberty. No reason to think these guys won't figure things out eventually. Don't they always?
Next game: Tuesday vs. Virginia

7. VCU (2-1)
Last week: 8
Robyn Parks' line for the week - 24.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals. In short, she ballin'. As for the Rams' new, uptempo "Fury" style, well, a year ago VCU averaged 59.1 points per game. Today the Rams are at 83.0 ppg. They've also forced 22.3 turnovers a game, produced 80 points off those turnovers and outscored their three opponents 50-10 on the fastbreak. Uh, so far, so good? Not sure what was more impressive - the victories over Youngstown State and Elon, or the fact that the Rams were within five at Ohio State with 1:20 to play.
Next game: Thursday at Texas-Pan American

6. Old Dominion (2-1)
Last week: 4
Like VCU, the Lady Monarchs have excelled in turning defense to offense. ODU scored 20 of its 61 points off turnovers against Virginia Tech and 25 of its 56 against Radford in the same fashion. Also, they've outscored their three opponents 41-4 on the fastbreak. The flipside is that points in the halfcourt have been much tougher to come by, particularly in the last two games. The return of guard Ashley Betz-White from injury should help, but the continued development of freshmen bigs Odegua Oigbokie, Destinee Young and Ije Ajemba figures to especially pivotal in ODU maximizing its halfcourt potential.
Next game: Friday at Ohio State

5. Richmond (1-2)
Last week: 7
The Spiders' shooting percentages in their three games - 31.3, 31.9, 31.1. Come back, Rachael Bilney! Now imagine what those numbers would look like if the Spiders weren't forcing 23 turnovers a game. Combine the disruptive defense with just a little better marksmanship and these guys should be fine. Speaking of fine, this just in - freshman Liv Healy (a Reading, Mass. native and - hopefully - a Red Sox fan) can really play.
Next game: Thursday vs. JMU

4. Virginia (2-1)
Last week: 2
That the Cavaliers fall two spots is less a reflection on them and more about how well the three teams ahead of them have performed. Besides, there was nothing not to like about Virginia's performance Saturday in a 95-82 beatdown of Louisiana Tech. The performance suggests that the Cavaliers are one team when All-ACC performer Ataira Franklin (16 points, 5 assists, 5 steals against LaTech) is capable of playing to her standard, and a couple of notches below that level when Franklin and her balky knee don't quite have it. Sophomore Faith Randolph continues to be a consistently strong producer.
Next game: Tuesday at Liberty

3. Hampton (2-0)
Last week: 3
For the past three years, we've left Hampton games thinking, man, Alyssa Bennett could score 20 every night if she wanted to. Well, this year, apparently she wants to, as the Lady Pirates senior is checking in at 23.5 ppg through two games on 64.5 percent shooting. No one's going to shoot that high of a percentage all season. But since Bennett's talented enough to get to her spots and get the kind of looks she wants against just about anyone, we don't expect that scoring average to dip too much.
Next game: Wednesday at LSU

2. Virginia Tech (4-0)
Last week: 5
Enough with the comparisons to last year's team - these Hokies have already blown those out of the water. The question now is - just how good is this Tech team? Is this a middle-of-the-pack, or (gulp) better, team in the loaded ACC? Does it have NCAA Tournament potential? We realize we're getting way ahead of ourselves here. Still, this should be an exciting time for Hokies fans. For after years of just hoping their team would stay off the bottom, they finally have a squad they can dream about reaching for the top.
Next game: Saturday at Hofstra

1. JMU (2-0)
Last week: 1
How does a team not only survive but thrive despite 33.3 field-goal shooting? By averaging 24 second-chance points and 21 points off turnovers the way these Dukes have done in notching double-digit victories over Virginia and at Liberty. Now imagine how this will all look when some of those shots start falling.
Next game: Thursday at Liberty

Pruwit! from former Hampton star, now in Ukraine

High school star to MEAC Player of the Year at Hampton to pro in the Ukraine

Thanks to Keiara Avant for taking the time to chat with LadySwish. Last year's all-everything from Hampton is playing for Dynamo Kiev in the Ukraine, putting her accounting job at hold at KPMG, an audit, tax and advisory firm. The 5-11 guard is averaging 10 ppg for Dynamo Kiev (4-0).

Describe your typical day.

 A typical day for me in Kiev involves two practices. One in the morning and one in the evening. In between practices I usually read, cook, and/or sleep.

How does Kiev compare to Virginia?

Kiev is different from Virginia in a number of ways --  there is also a lot more traffic. What stands out the most to would be the driving. I can't really say that they follow many  of the traffic rules and regulations, which has resulted in a number of accidents I have witnessed.

What do you miss about America?

What I miss most besides my family, is American food. My favorite restaurants back home are Chipotle and Chick-fil-A. When I return home I'm sure that's all I will eat for at least a month!

Taking Russian in school must have helped a lot

I became fascinated with the Russian language at the start of 8th grade. I had a very good Russian teacher who broke down the language in a way that made learning easy and fun.

What stands out about your time at Hampton? (Pirates just had a big win vs. Southern Miss., by the way):

What stands out as special about my time at HU would have to be my four MEAC tournament championships, the four NCAA appearances, and receiving the first MEAC Player of the Year in Hampton's history.

How did you get into accounting?

My aunt really presented to me the opportunities of accounting, and when I took financial and managerial accounting I found interest and thought more about my future in accounting. I like accounting because working in the public practice, I get to be exposed to a lot of businesses and can study them. Learning about clients businesses and applying what I've learned in accounting bring out the fun in accounting for me.

Hampton perfect so far in 2013

When Hampton (1-0) hosts Southern Miss today at 2 p.m., the team will be out to extend a hidden but pretty impressive streak - the Lady Pirates have yet to lose a regular-season game in 2013.

Starting with a 60-57 victory over Boston College on Jan. 2 and extending through Sunday's 64-37 win over St. Peter's, the Lady Pirates have won all 17 regular-season games they've played this calendar year. Add in postseason results and Hampton is 20-1 overall in 2013, with the lone loss coming to Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Hampton's last regular-season loss came on Dec. 30, 2012 at Virginia Tech in one of the weirdest games we tracked all year. After taking a 17-10 lead at halftime, the Lady Pirates, which led the nation in scoring defense, surrendered 45 second-half points to the offensively challenged Hokies, a group that averaged just 49 points for an entire game last season.

Other games Saturday:

Louisiana Tech at Virginia, 2 p.m.
     - Sophomore Faith Randolph is averaging 18.5 points as she assumes some of the scoring load from All-ACC senior Ataira Franklin, who unfortunately much continue to work around a balky knee. As will be the case all season, rebounding will be crucial for the undersized Cavaliers (1-1). Virginia got crushed on the boards in its season-opening loss at James Madison, then crushed High Point on the glass in winning by 19 on Monday. Meanwhile, the Lady Techsters opened their season by getting outrebounded 47-29 by South Carolina. Still, it sounds as though they expect much more success today.

"South Carolina was extremely big. Virginia we match up well (with) and we can kind of pound it in the paint a little," LaTech coach Teresa Weatherspoon told the (La.) News Star.

Utah Valley at Longwood, 2 p.m.
     - The Lancers (1-1) are coming off Tuesday's 58-52 victory over William and Mary, a game in which they trailed by 10 with less than nine minutes remaining. A quartet of sophomores is leading the way. Dae Dae Brown is averaging a double-double (10.5 points, 10.5 rebounds), Raven Williams leads the team with 15 ppg and Khalilah Ali (10.5 ppg) and Kyndal Skersick (9.5) have also been key contributors.

Friday's results

Norfolk State 66, Radford 54
     - Spartans senior forward Rachel Gordon had her way inside against the guard-oriented Highlanders, notching 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbing 16 rebounds. Also, nice job by NSU freshman forward Logan Powell, who chipped in 8 points on 4-of-6 shooting in just 9 minutes. As for the Highlanders, senior guard Breshara Gordon got off in her homecoming game (she's a graduate of Norfolk's Lake Taylor High) with a team high-tying 14 points. Ayana Avery also scored 14 points for Radford (2-1).

East Carolina 69, William and Mary 57
     - The Tribe (0-2) trailed just 32-31 at halftime before things went awry after the break. Freshman Marlena Tremba tied for team-high scoring honors with 13 points and is averaging 16.5 ppg so far. New coach Ed Swanson is clearly still looking at combinations as 12 players saw action and, with the exception of Kaitlyn Mathieu, none played more than 25 minutes. The good news for Tribe fans is it appears as though all 12 of them can contribute.

Thursday's recap: Pickard dominates for George Mason

Yes, we too were blown away by the 21-point, 21-rebound performance - both career highs - turned in by George Mason's Janaa Pickard in the Patriots' 82-64 victory over Utah Valley Thursday night.

Turns out it was even better than we realized.Consider:

- The 21 rebounds were the most ever by any George Mason player at the Patriot Center, the building the team has called home since 1985. The previous high was 18 by Gretchen Lacey against Fairfield in 1995.

- It was the second-most rebounds by any player in a game this season. Pacific's Kendall Kenyon grabbed 24 boards in her team's season opener.

- Pickard's 12 offensive boards were the most by any player in a game this season.

- In shooting 9 of 15 from the field and 3 of 3 from the line, recording 4 assists, blocking a shot and not making a turnover, Pickard was as efficient as she was productive. In fact, her efficiency score of plus-37 was one of the 10 best by any Division I player this season, and the best so far by any D-I  player in Virginia. The five best in these parts:

1. Pickard - plus-37

2. JMU's Kirby Burkholder vs. Liberty - plus-32

3. Radford's Ayana Avery vs. Emory and Henry - plus-29

3. Virginia Tech's Taijah Campbell vs. Old Dominion - plus-29

5. VCU's Robyn Parks vs. Ohio State - plus-29

By the way, Pickard was part of our Elite 25 series on the best returning players in the state, so we knew she could play. But 21 and 21?

Heck of a show, Janaa. And a tip of the cap to Taylor Brown (17 points) and Kyana Jacobs (15) for their roles in helping the Patriots (2-1) capture their home opener.

Also Thursday:

Virginia Tech 71, Florida 59

First of all, it's pretty impressive to beat Florida in anything, isn't it?

Fortunately the story here isn't about how the Hokies blew a 28-point second-half lead, as the Gators cut 24 points off Tech's advantage until the home team regained control down the stretch. As a result, we're free to focus on the breakout performance of rookie guard Vanessa Panousis (a game-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting), who had contributed just 16 points in her first two games combined. Gators coach Amanda Butler certainly was impressed - and surprised.

"She clearly outplayed anything we had seen on film of her," Butler said. "She did a fantastic job of setting the tone for their team and versus our point guards which is something I'm very disappointed in. You have to give her credit. She was aggressive, she was attacking and was making plays for her team. She handled our pressure much more like a veteran than a freshman."

Led by the play of Panousis, the Hokies now find themselves not only 3-0, but an entertaining 3-0. Frankly, watching the Hokies play in recent years had been something you'd often find yourself wincing through, particularly when Tech had the ball. But these guys aren't just beating folks, they're lighting up the scoreboard (relatively speaking) as they do so. And offense sells tickets, right?

Get your popcorn ready, Tech fans. (Click here to read about Tech's victory over Old Dominion on Monday).

Ohio State 83, VCU 71

The Rams lost by 38 points when these teams met in Columbus last year. This time, the "Fury" folks made the Buckeyes work for it and were within five before a disastrous final 1:20 let the home team off the hook. Still, VCU fans should be pretty encouraged. Given how the rest of the non-conference schedule has been shaped, this team has a chance to win a bunch of games over the new few weeks with more efforts like Thursday's.

Upcoming games

Friday, November 15

Radford at Norfolk State, 6 p.m.

William and Mary at East Carolina, 7 p.m.

Saturday, November 16

Louisiana Tech at Virginia, 2 p.m.

Southern Miss at Hampton, 2 p.m.

Utah Valley at Longwood, 2 p.m.

Sunday, November 17

Radford at Old Dominion, 2 p.m.

Bucknell at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m.

UAB at Richmond, 2 p.m.

Elon at VCU, 2 p.m.