Friday, November 26, 2010

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Freshman Sarah Hansen (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane HS) scored a game-high 19 points as the FGCU women’s basketball team defeated ACC foe Virginia Tech, 73-65, on Thursday night in their first game of the 2010 Caribbean Challenge.

With the win, the Eagles improve their record to 3-0, while the Hokies fall to 3-1. The win also gave FGCU their first win over a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Blue and Green were 0-4 all-time vs. the ACC prior to the matchup with VT.

Hansen, in just her third collegiate start, led the Blue and Green with a career-high 19 points, while pulling down five rebounds. Junior Kelsey Jacobson (Barnesville, Minn./Moorhead HS) chipped in with 14 points. Senior Shannon Murphy (Barnesville, Minn./Moorhead HS) finished with 11 points and a game-high seven assists. Junior Courtney Chihil (Tipp City, Ohio/Alter HS) recorded nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Junior Nicoya Jackson (Houston, Texas/Cypress Springs HS/Southwestern Christian) pitched in with nine points on 3-of-3 shooting in just nine minutes of floor time.

Hansen drove by a VT defender and banked in a three-pointer to give the Eagles a quick 5-3 lead less than two minutes into the game (18:40). The Hokies then used a 13-5 run to grab a 16-10 lead with 12:32 left in the half. After a Hansen free throw made the score 19-16 in favor of Virginia Tech, the Hokies used a quick 5-0 run to grab their largest lead of the half (8) at 24-16. The Eagles would fight back and used a 13-6 run, highlighted by five points from Murphy and four from freshman Kiara Bomben (Canberra, Australia/Ankeny HS), to make the score 30-29 with 1:45 left in the opening stanza. After a pair of free throws from VT’s Porschia Hadley (32-29), the Blue and Green got back-to-back triples from Murphy and junior Eglah Griffin (Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar HS/Seminole CC) to grab a 35-32 lead with seven seconds on the clock. The Hokies got a buzzer beating three-pointer from Alyssa Fenyn to tie the game at 35-35 heading into the locker room at halftime.