The Hokies committed 24 turnovers and too often got beaten on the boards in a 72-58 loss to VCU in Richmond.
Utahya Drye had 14 points and five turnovers. Allyssa Fenyn had 13 points and four turnovers. Point guard Nikki Davis had six turnovers for Tech.
Center Stephanie Solomon had 11 points and 10 rebounds as five Rams scored in double figures.
Five Hokies scored in double figures as Virginia Tech opened its women's basketball season with a 77-55 win over Longwood.
Utahya Drye and Alyssa Fenyn each scored 15 points. Shanel Harrison had 13, Nikki Davis 11 and Abby Redick 10.
The Cavaliers opened their season with a 73-68 win over UMBC on the road, giving hall of fame coach Debbie Ryan her 700th win.
Ryan, 700-298, is the 12th women's basketball coach to reach 700 wins.
Richard Stockton scored the last five points -- all in the last minute -- to defeat Franklin & Marshall 62-58 and advance to Saturday's final of the Division III men's basketball tournament at Salem Civic Center.
Stockton (30-2), a public university in New Jersey named after one of that state's signers of the Declaration of Independence, was led by Kai Massaquoi and Omar Smith, who both had 20 points and seven rebounds.
Franklin and Marshall outshot the Ospreys both from the field and at the free throw line, but were 0-for-6 from 3-point range.
Stockton will take on defending national champion Washington University of St. Louis in the final. See The Roanoke Times for in-depth coverage.
Good night, now from Salem Civic Center.
Behind Kai Massaquoi's 15 points, Richard Stockton came on strong late in the first half and forged a 26-26 halftime tie with Franklin & Marshall at Salem Civic Center.
The Richard Stockton fans -- one of whom had a sign that stated: "Jersey is Here!" did not have to cheer for early in the first half, as the Ospreys had just eight points at the 9-minute mark. But the offense did start to make some things happen as time went on.
Franklin & Marshall was led by Anthony Brooks and James McNally with seven points apiece. Their student section is not quite as large as Stockton's, but one young fan did have his "Go Dips" sign to put up. F&M's mascot is the Diplomats. I have never heard our No. 1 Division III beatwriter Randy King ever refer to F&M as the Dips, however.
With the help of a 16-0 second-half run, defending Division III national champion Washington University advanced to Saturday's championship game with a 77-58 win over ODAC entry Guilford on Friday at the Salem Civic Center.
Aaron Thompson dominated for Washington (28-2) scoring 30 points and pulling down nine rebounds. Sean Wallas added 15 for the Bears, who will play the winner of the second semifinal between Richard Stockton and Franklin & Marshall.
Clay Henson scored 23 points to lead Guilford, which got as close as five points in the second half before a Washington went on its game-deciding run.
By the way, Washington University's women also beat Amherst on Friday in the women's D-III final four and will play for the championship in that division as well.
Midway through the second half, Washington University has just gone on a 16-0 run to thwart what had been an impressive run by Guilford.
The Quakers were as close a 46-41before the Bears went on the devastating run.
Defending
Division III national champion Guilford leads Guilford 39-26 at the
half in the national semifinals at Salem Civic Center.
Junior Aaron Thompson, who had 11 points in last year's title game, already has 16 points and seven rebounds for the the Bears.
Guilford's Clay Henson scored 11 in the first half. The Quakers have
been outrebounded 20-12 and have yet to convert an offensive rebound
into points. Meanwhile, Washington has seven second-half points and its
bench has outscored Guilford 8-2.
So what should we expect in the second half? Well, according to the
Guilford sports information department, the Quakes -- as our Division
III ace beatwriter Randy King likes to call them -- have come from
behind to win 21 of their 25 games.
And just last week, GC trailed by 12 to Texas-Dallas before coming
back to win 64-59 in overtime. Good seats are still available at Salem
Civic Center. So if your bracket's busted, come on by.
The second game pits Franklin & Marshall against Richard Stockton.
UVa press release on Leitao's exit:
VMI did not get a bid to the NIT -- no huge surprise there. But VMI is not in the College Basketball Invitational, either, but Richmond is. VMI is not even in the new CollegeInsider tourney, but Liberty, ODU and JMU are.
I wonder if VMI turned down a bid to the CBI or the College Insider tourney because it didn't want to pay a financial guarantee? Cincinnati and Vanderbilt are also done for the year. I am sure those 2 schools could have been in the CBI or Insider tourney if they wanted to; they may have turned down the chance too.
We will find out what happened with VMI and tell you in Tuesday's paper.
-- Mark Berman
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