March Madness: No. 12 FGCU proves it was underseeded, upsets No. 5 Virginia Tech
Florida Gulf Coast was not a typical No. 12 seed and proved it in the first round of the women's NCAA tournament by upsetting No. 5 Virginia Tech, 84-81, in the Spokane region.
One of the bigger surprises of Selection Sunday was FGCU's seed line. The Eagles (30-2) spent much of the season in the Associated Press Top 25 and had notched big wins over LSU and Michigan State. They ended up falling to No. 12, and their first-round opponent had to play a tough opening-day contest.
Kierstan Bell, who has already declared for the WNBA draft, began heating up in the third quarter and gave the Eagles the separation they needed in the final minute. Her behind-the-back dribble-drive to the basket put FGCU up, 76-74, and her vision 40 seconds later was the game's dagger.
After Kendall Spray grabbed the defensive rebound on the rare missed jumper by the Hokies' Elizabeth Kitley, FGCU gave Bell the ball. She drove, bringing in defenders, and found a wide open Karli Seay in the corner. Seay drilled the 3-pointer to go up by five and FGCU was 27 seconds away from advancing.
Kitley's layup cut it to three with 17 seconds, Spray made all four of her free throws to seal it. FGCU will face the winner of No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 13 Delaware.
Bell leads FGCU's upset
Bell had a team-high 22 points with eight rebounds, three steals and two assists. She was 8-of-18 from the floor and made only two of eight 3-point attempts. FGCU hit 15 of its 38 attempts from behind the arc, doubling up on Virginia Tech's 6-of-17. The potential WNBA draftee played with four fouls throughout the fourth quarter.
Kerstie Phills was also in foul trouble and had 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range. Tishara Morehouse had 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Seay had 12 points off the bench on 4-for-9 shooting.
Kitley's record day not enough for VT
Kitley scored a program-record 42 points on 16-of-27 shooting, but it wasn't enough. She made 10 of 14 free throws and added eight rebounds, one assist and one block. She was more than half of the Hokies' offense.
Only Georgia Amoore hit double-digits with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting. She had a team-high five assists. D'Asia Gregg had 11 rebounds, all on the defensive end, to lead VT.
Both teams shot around 50%, but Virginia Tech controlled the boards, 40-29.
Earlier in the day, No. 10 Creighton defeated No. 7 Colorado, 84-74, in the Greensboro region and No. 10 South Dakota took down No. 7 Ole Miss, 75-61, in Wichita.
