January 8, 2009

RORIE LEADS RAMS TO 67-43 WIN OVER GEORGE MASON
Junior tallies 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting
Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. – If there is one key to a win for the Virginia Commonwealth University women’s basketball team, it can be attributed to junior guard La’Tavia Rorie (Charlotte, N.C.).

Entering Thursday night’s match-up with George Mason, Rorie was averaging close to 11 points per game in the Rams’ 10 victories, while only averaging 2.0 ppg in their three losses.

That trend continued against the Patriots as the Charlotte, N.C. native poured in 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting to lead the Black and Gold to a 67-43 victory in the Colonial Athletic Association home opener.

“I thought Tavia [Rorie] really had an outstanding all-around game,” Head Coach Beth Cunningham (right) said. “She really showed her toughness and resiliency in bouncing back from a tough loss down at Old Dominion.”

With the victory, the Rams improve to 11-3 overall and 1-1 in conference action while George Mason falls to 2-11 on the year and 0-2 in CAA play.

Two lay-ups from Rorie sandwiched a jumper from senior Quanitra Hollingsworth (Chesapeake, Va.) to spark the Black and Gold to an early 6-0 lead with 17:38 to play in the first half.

George Mason would not go away as it battled the Rams throughout the first half never getting further than four points away and got within two after Rashauna Hobbs drained two free-throws with 4:56.

VCU would take over from there going on a 10-0 run thanks to four points from junior Kita Waller (Gainesville, Ga.) to claim a 30-18 advantage with under a minute to play in the half.

A lay-up by Rachel Robinson with 16 seconds remaining sent to the teams into halftime with the scoreboard reading 30-20 in the Rams favor.

After Brittany Eley connected on a three-pointer to bring Mason with nine, VCU put the game out of reach.

Five points from Hollingsworth and six steals from the VCU defense ignited an 18-3 run capped off by a three-pointer from junior D’Andra Moss (Atlanta, Ga.) to give the Black and Gold a commanding 50-26 lead.

“I thought we really came out in the second half and had great energy, the energy we were kind of lacking in the first half,” Cunningham said. “Like we have done several times this year we used our defensive pressure to force turnovers and turn that into offense and really put the game away.”

Mason would not get within 20 the rest of the way thanks to outstanding play off the bench by freshman Courtney Hurt (Loganville, Ga.) (right).

Rorie led all scorers with 17 points on an efficient 7-of-8 shooting from the field. She added four assists and four rebounds, all offensive, to her productive night.

“I really just tried to go out and work hard,” Rorie said. “When you work hard and do what you’re supposed to do, good things happen.”

Hurt continued her stellar play off the bench with eight points and six rebounds, while Hollingsworth, freshman Jennifer Lane (Wichita, Kan.) and senior Radoslava Bachvarova (Varna, Bulgaria) each poured in seven points apiece.

Brittney Wilkins registered her first career double-double for the Patriots with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Eley added 11 points in the losing effort.