VCU HANDS HOFSTRA 51-38 DEFEAT TO ADVANCE TO CAA SEMIS

VCU HANDS HOFSTRA 51-38 DEFEAT TO ADVANCE TO CAA SEMIS

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HARRISONBURG, Va. (March 12, 2010) - Early foul trouble in the second half allowed third-seeded VCU to cruise to a 51-38 victory over No. 6 Hofstra in the final quarterfinal game of the 2010 Virginia 529 College Savings Plan CAA Women's Basketball Championship.

VCU (20-11) advances to tomorrow's second semifinal to face the host and second-seeded James Madison at 2:30 p.m. Hofstra falls to 19-13 with the loss. The Rams will look to avenge last year's 65-57 loss in the 2009 tournament semifinals to the Dukes.

The Rams were led by senior Kita Waller (Gainesville, Ga.), who scored a game-high 18 points, and sophomore Courtney Hurt (Loganville, Ga.) and senior D'Andra Moss (Atlanta, Ga.) chipped in 13 and ten, respectively.

Freshman Shante Evans (West Chester, Pa.) posted her league-leading 15th double-double in the loss. She scored a team-high 10 points and brought down a game-high 12 rebounds. Sophomore Candace Bellocchio (Staten Island, N.Y.) tallied eight points, while sophomore Nicole Capurso (Staten Island, N.Y.) added seven.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well, with VCU shooting 26 percent (14-of-54) and Hofstra going 31 percent (14-of-45) from the floor. The Rams did use the Pride's foul trouble to go to the line 33 times, converting on 20 of the attempts. VCU trailed in the rebounds category 42-39, but had a 16-11 advantage on the offensive glass.

Down 6-4 in the early going, Moss led the Rams on a 6-0 run to take the 10-6 lead with 11:43 remaining in the first frame. Bellocchio drained a pair three's from the left wing to give the lead back to the Pride 14-13 with 8:21 to go before halftime.

VCU came right back with a 7-2 run over the next four minutes, capped off by a Jennifer Lane (Wichita, Kan.) three pointer for a 20-16 lead. VCU led by as much as six in the opening stanza and took a 23-19 advantage into the locker room.

Up 26-24 with 16:20 remaining in regulation, the Rams widened the gap to 15 with a 14-1 run over the next eight and a half minutes to take a 40-25 lead. VCU led by as many as 19 points, at 49-30, but the Pride closed the deficit to 13 by game's end.