Women's Hoop Report 74

Women's NCAA Tournament Second Round, March 23

Georgia Tech 73, West Virginia 56

Lotta-Maj Lahtinen and Lorela Cubaj showed up big time and eliminated West Virginia in the second round of the Women's NCAA Tournament.

Lahtinen hit nine-of-16 shots, scoring 22 points, while collecting four rebounds and three steals. Cubaj posted 21 points, 12 rebounds and a blocked shot. The Yellow Jackets as a team outrebounded WVU 36-22. They also shot better from three . Georgia Tech hit six-of-14 threes, while West Virginia hit four-of-15.

"It was a terrible game on our part and give Georgia Tech all the credit," said the dejected West Virginia head coach Mike Carey. "We didn't play as a team and I give Georgia Tech all the credit."

After being up 36-32 at the half, Georgia Tech pounded West Virginia in the third quarter, outscoring the Mountaineers 22-9. When asked if his team was tired, coach Carey shook that reason off. "I don't want to make any excuses. I think what caught up to us is, we didn't execute."

Mountaineers star guard Kysre Gondrezick was bottled up, scoring only three points. She hit just one-of-six shot attempts.

A frustrated sophomore guard, Kirsten Deans, of West Virginia said, "Georgia Tech is a good team, but they're not 20 points better than us. I don't think they're better than us at all, but they went out there and they just played harder than us. That's the bottom line."

Deans is right, if the two teams played 10 more times, Georgia Tech probably wouldn't beat West Virginia again by 20 points. The problem is when you don't bring your best effort to the NCAA Tournament, a hungry team like Georgia Tech, who may be a bit underrated will eat you alive.

Georgia Tech also got a sound game from guard Kierra Fletcher. She scored 14 points, with six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal.

West Virginia was led in scoring and rebounding by forward Esmery Martinez's 13 points and nine boards. Forward Kari Niblack had 12 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Deans was the third and final WVU player with 11 points. She led all players with five assists.

North Carolina State 79, South Florida 67

For one half South Florida (19-4) hung tough and led North Carolina State (22-2) 36-35. Then the third quarter came and went. When it did, the Bulls had been outscored 24-11 and its lead was a thing of the past.

Below: Jada Boyd

Five NC State players scored at least 10 points led by guard Jakia Brown-Turner who had 19 points. Forward Jada Boyd had 18 points and 10 boards, while her teammate center Elissa Cunane posted 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Kia Crutchfield had a fine game with 11 points, six assists and just one turnover for the Wolfpack. It was the senior's second game this season with as many assists. South Florida was led by Elena Tsineke who scored 22 points in the defeat.

Stanford 73, Oklahoma State 62

Stanford took it to Oklahoma State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cowgirls' lead player Natasha Mack had her worst shooting performance since Jan. 25. She shot four-of-12 against Stanford, scoring 13 points. She hadn't scored less that 16 points since Jan. 25 as well.

Below: Cameron Brink & Lexie Hull

Stanford's 25-11 second quarter run did the damage as the Cardinal kept command the rest of the way. Sophomore guard Haley Jones led Stanford with 17 points. Freshman forward Cameron Brink posted five blocks to lead all players. She also had 12 points and nine rebounds. Oklahoma State guard Neferatali Notoa paced her team with 14 points. Reserve Lexy Keys gave OSU 12 points off of the bench.