November 22, 2015
Hokies down Cougars 81-47
Panousis hits five 3-pointers in win
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College of Charleston (2-2) 111291547
Virginia Tech (4-1) 2413212381
  • Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Va. - 1,136
  • High Points: 15 - Vanessa Panousis
  • High Rebounds: 9 - Regan Magarity

BLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech women’s basketball team scored 13 unanswered points to end the first quarter, breaking open a tie game to take a double-digit lead that they never relinquished, beating the College of Charleston 81-47 on Sunday evening at Cassell Coliseum.

Vanessa Panousis led the Hokies with 15 points, connecting on five from outside the arc. Chanette Hicks added 14 points while Hannah Young tallied nine. All 15 Hokies saw time in the game with 11 of them getting in the score column. Regan Magarity had nine rebounds.

Taijah Campbell moved into sole possession of seventh place on the career blocks list with pair against the Cougars.

“We’re very proud of the way the team played,” head coach Dennis Wolff said. “I was a concerned about this game heading into it because I think Charleston is a good team. They’ve played some good teams tough this year. These two [Hicks and Panousis] played a terrific game and I think having Regan [Magarity] back helped us in a lot of areas.”

Tech improves to 4-1 on the season while Charleston falls to 2-2.

Both teams got off to a slow start offensively as the Cougars led 5-4 with 6:14 remaining in the first quarter. That would be the last lead Charleston would hold as Tech scored five straight points to go up 9-5. The Cougars were able to tie the game 11-11 with 3:23 left in the first.

The Hokies defense would prevent the Cougars from scoring a basket the rest of the quarter as Tech began their 13-0 run sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers from Panousis. The run would eventually grow to 22-4, spanning a total of 11:40 of game time. Tech closed out the half and took a 37-23 lead into the break.

Coming out of halftime the Cougars cut it down to a 10-point game with back-to-back layups, but the Hokies responded with a 15-0 run that saw a pair of threes from Young and eight points from Sidney Cook. Tech ended the quarter up 58-32 after outscoring the Cougars 21-9 in the third frame.

The Hokies continued to control the game offensively in the final quarter, winning by the largest margin (34) of the game after walk-on Erinn Brooks hit a jumper in the final minute.

Tech held Charleston to 30-percent shooting from the field while the Hokies shot 50-percent while outscoring the Cougars in the paint 32-10. Tech also had an edge in points off turnovers at 25-7.

Virginia Tech also crashed the boards, pulling down 40 rebounds to CofC’s 25.

Darien Huff led the Cougars with 10 points while Kelsey Booth had nine points and eight rebounds.

The Hokies return to the floor on Wednesday as they host Wofford College at 7 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum.

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