BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Hot-shooting Virginia Tech jumped out to 6-0 lead and never looked back in defeating West Virginia, 76-64, in Big East Conference women's basketball action Saturday.
The loss dropped WVU to 4-11 in league play and 15-11 overall. The Hokies, still fighting for a fourth-place finish and bye in the first round of next week's league tournament, moved to 18-8 overall and 9-6 in conference play.
Virginia Tech, which shot 58.6 percent in the first half, was led by 6-4 post player Ieva Kublina with 18 points and nine rebounds. Chrystal Starling also had 18 points for Tech while 6-2 post player Erin Gibson added 12 points and seven rebounds.
Point guard Yolanda Paige led the Mountaineers with 18 points and five assists while Latitia Williams contributed 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Kate Bulger added 12 points, but was just 4 of 13 from the field. Eartha White was held to two points, but did grab nine rebounds.
West Virginia trailed 37-27 at the intermission, and fell behind by as many as 16 points early in the second half before rallying to cut the margin to 52-42 on Paige's jumper with 9:45 to play.
But within a span of just 3:20, the Hokies pushed the lead to 22 points when Kubina knocked down a 3-pointer, making it 66-44 with 6:25 to play.
West Virginia must now travel to No. 1 Connecticut in its next contest on Tuesday. Virginia Tech, which snapped a three-game losing streak, travels to St. John's the same evening.
The Hokies finished their home season with a sparkling 13-1 mark.
