SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – The Virginia Tech women's basketball team opened the Coqui with a 54-45 victory over the Rice Owls at Mario Morales Coliseo on Friday afternoon. It marked the ninth win of the season in 10 games for the Hokies, and dropped Rice's record to 5-5.
Dara Mabrey started the game with a trademark 3-pointer, but the Hokies would go on to struggle offensively for much of the first half. All told, both teams found points hard to come by, the byproduct of sloppy offense as well as good defensive efforts. Mabrey scored a layup at the buzzer to give the Hokies the lead back as the first half ended 24-23.
Off of the bench, true freshman Cayla King turned in a career-high with nine points on 3 of 4 shooting from beyond the arc. She and junior guard Aisha Sheppard, who finished the game with 18 points breathed life into the offense that struggled to get into a rhythm especially when Rice was trapping the ball to try and speed up the game.
Still, Tech shot 41% from the floor and help the opposition to sub-30 percent.
Rice was led by guard Erica Ogwumike who had a game-high 23 points on 22 shots.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Tech turned it over 23 times, the Owls just 12. For the Hokies, that total is the most of the season.
- The Hokies outrebounded Rice 42-32.
- One of the national leaders in 3's, Tech buried nine in the game while Rice only connected on one shot from beyond the arc.
- Rice won the battle in the paint, outscoring the Hokies 30-16 in that category.
- The Owls were also better in transition scoring 17 points to the Hokies' six.
GAME NOTES
- Tech used the same starting lineup for the third straight game - all victories by an average of 14.67 points.
- Aisha Sheppard continued her streak of 10 straight games with 10+ points, a career-long. She continues to lead the team in scoring at 17.2 points per game. With her three made 3-pointers this afternoon, Sheppard moved into fifth place all-time at Virginia Tech with 159. She trails teammate Kendyl Brooks by one.
- Elizabeth Kitley, after recording a double-double last time out, registered a career-best 14 rebounds in the game. She also had four blocks for the fourth time this season.
- Forward Lydia Rivers recorded double figure rebounds for the second time in her Tech career, hauling in 10.
- The game was played on head coach Kenny Brooks' birthday, the second consecutive season that the Hokies have played on December 20. Last year, the Hokies defeated Dayton 69-57 at the Daytona Beach Invitational.
NEXT TIME ON THE HARDWOOD
- The Hokies will play their second game of the Coqui Classic on Saturday, December 21 vs. Wichita State at 11 am ET.
Gallery: (12/20/2019) 2019 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL vs. RICE