March 20, 2005

By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - The most prolific offense in women's college basketball clunked its way through a miserable second half before Jenni Dant came to the rescue.

Dant scored the game-winning basket with 4.9 seconds left, and DePaul blew a 20-point lead Sunday before escaping with a 79-78 victory over Virginia Tech in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

The fifth-seeded Blue Demons led 35-15 in the first half and 47-30 with 17:48 left, but needed a late comeback to avoid the embarrassment of falling to the 12th-seeded Hokies.

Dant and Allie Quigley scored 22 points apiece, and Khara Smith had 15 points and 13 rebounds for DePaul (26-4), which overcame 24 turnovers.

The Blue Demons advanced to play the winner of the Penn State-Liberty game, held later Sunday.

After a foul shot by Virginia Tech's Kirby Copeland put the Hokies up 78-77 with 33 seconds left, Dant brought the ball upcourt, waited near midcourt as the clock wound down, then drove the lane before launching a runner that went in.

Virginia Tech then committed the last of its 15 turnovers, ruining a spirited comeback against the 17th-ranked team in the nation. The Hokies outscored DePaul 53-37 in the second half after allowing the Blue Demons to shoot 59 percent in the opening 20 minutes.

Dawn Chriss led the Hokies (17-12) with 20 points and Copeland had 15.

DePaul wasted no time in utilizing an attack that came in averaging 82.9 points per game, best in the nation. After spotting Virginia Tech the opening basket, the Demons used 7-for-11 shooting to go up 18-4 with just under seven minutes elapsed.

Minutes later, an 8-2 run made it 26-8. Midway through the first half, Smith had twice as many rebounds (6) as the entire Virginia Tech team (3).

But things turned around in the second half.

DePaul's 42-25 halftime lead shrunk to 12 before a three-point play by Erin Gibson ignited an 8-0 spurt that brought Virginia Tech to 53-49.

DePaul then built its lead back to eight, but the Hokies used another 8-0 spree to pull even with 10:45 left. Minutes later, two free throws by Copeland capped a collective 33-13 run that put Virginia Tech up 63-60 with 8:04 to go.

The Hokies didn't commit their first turnover until the 10:27 mark of the second half. By that time, DePaul had 11.