HOKIES BETTER WIN TONIGHT; OTHERWISE IT'S ALL CONFUSION

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993                   TAG: 9303040324
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-11   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
HOKIES BETTER WIN TONIGHT; OTHERWISE IT'S ALL CONFUSION
Late tonight, things will be either crystal-clear or confusing for Virginia Tech's women's basketball team.
If the Hokies beat UNC-Charlotte in the teams' 7 p.m. game at Cassell Coliseum, they'll clinch second place in the Metro Conference - their highest finish in 11 years in the league.
If they lose, they will finish in at least a three-way tie for second and force the Metro to wade through its tiebreakers to figure out who'll be seeded where in the conference tournament that begins Wednesday in Louisville, Ky.
Southern Mississippi clinched the regular-season Metro title on Monday night by beating South Florida. The Golden Eagles (9-2 in the league) get a bye in the first round of the tournament.
If Tech finishes second, it will play South Florida - 0-11 in league play and without guard Tammy Van Oppen, who broke a bone in her right arm Feb. 22. Van Oppen was averaging 15.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists and led the Metro in steals with a 2.8 average.
"That changes them dramatically," Tech coach Carol Alfano said.
First, however, Tech must secure the No. 2 seed. That means beating UNCC, which pasted Tech 81-44 in Charlotte Feb. 1.
"We didn't show up at their place," Alfano said. "Even if we show up here, it's going to be a tough battle."
If Tech loses and Southern Miss beats Tulane today, Tech, Louisville and UNCC will be 7-5 in the conference. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition, taking each team's combined record against the other two; all three would be 2-2. The next tiebreaker compares each team's record against top seed Southern Miss; Tech, 1-1, would win the tiebreaker because UNCC and Louisville both were 0-2 against the Golden Eagles.
If Tech loses and Tulane beats Southern Miss, Tulane would make it a four-way tie for second. Using the same tiebreakers, Tulane would gain second place (and Tech third) because the Green Wave beat Southern Miss twice.
The Hokies are 12-1 at home, their most wins in a season at Cassell; and their 18 victories are the most recorded by a Tech team. That, however, guarantees Tech nothing in postseason.
Winning the Metro tournament would put Tech in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Alfano said the lack of nonconference quality victories will hurt Tech's chance to gain an at-large bid to the 48-team playoffs, and said 20 victories is pretty much a prerequisite to be considered for the eight-team National Women's Invitation Tournament.
The Hokies could reach 20 victories by beating UNCC, then beating South Florida in the Metro tourney. Alfano, however, said Tech's half-court defense must improve.
Against VCU, Tech needed two defensive stops at the end of the game. VCU missed one shot, but rebounded and scored; then, aggressive Sue Logsdon overplayed Tasha Courtney, who caught a pass and hit an open jumper with two seconds left for the Rams' victory.
"We're not pressing nearly as much," Alfano said. "The press has just not been effective for us the last half of the season. Teams are ready for it.
"We're not as deep as we want to be; we're not able to go 10 deep."
The Hokies will have almost a week between tonight's game and their first in the Metro tournament, and the rest could help their defense. The women's tournament is held at the Commonwealth Convention Center in downtown Louisville and the final is at Freedom Hall, home of the Cardinals' men's team. Louisville's women's team plays its home games at Cardinal Arena, a new gym built adjacent to Louisville's athletic offices.
"It's not like they're used to playing on that floor, and we had some success there last year," Alfano said, referring to Tech's first-round upset of UNCC at the 1992 tournament.
Because Tech didn't start the season with forecasts for greatness, Alfano said postseason hasn't been stressed for the players.
"This year we'd be very pleased to get any kind of postseason," she said.

Scott Blanchard is a Roanoke Times & World-News sportswriter.
\ METRO CONFERENCE RACE\ METRO WOMEN'S BASKETBALL THROUGH MARCH 2\ Team League record\ Southern Mississippi 9-2\ Virginia Tech 7-4\ Louisville 7-5\ UNC Charlotte 6-5\ Tulane 6-5\ Virginia Commonwealth 4-7\ South Florida 0-11\ CONFERENCE GAMES REMAINING: Southern Mississippi, Thursday vs. Tulane; Virginia Tech, Thursday vs. UNCC; Louisville, None.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB