Hokies Stifle Lady Tigers in ACC Opener

Jan. 2, 2012

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson Lady Tigers fell in their ACC opener to Virginia Tech, 55-33, in Littlejohn Coliseum on Monday night. Clemson (4-8, 0-1 ACC) held a second straight opponent to 55 points or below, but again struggled to get anything going offensively against the Hokies (5-9, 1-0 ACC).

Quinyotta Pettaway and Natiece Ford each had eight points to pace Clemson, and point guard Chelsea Lindsay had seven rebounds in 37 minutes, which led all players. Kelly Gramlich had six points, but no other Clemson player had more than three in the game.

Virginia Tech’s Aerial Wilson had 24 points (7-15 FG, 8-12 FT) to lead all scorers, while leading scorer Monet Tellier was held below her season average with 12 points. The win upped Virginia Tech’s mark to 7-5 against Clemson all-time, and was their fourth straight win in the series overall. Clemson will make a return trip to Blacksburg in February.

Clemson outrebounded Virginia Tech by five, and outscored the Hokies 15-0 off the bench, but shot just 9-44 from the floor and committed a season-high 26 turnovers in the loss, which led to 19 Virginia Tech points.

Clemson hit 13-15 (.867) from the line, and a 10-11 (.909) mark in the second half to cut into several Hokie leads.

The Lady Tigers could not recover from Tech’s 17-0 run to open the game, never getting closer than 16 the rest of the night. The Hokies started the game on a 32-3 run, holding Clemson without a field goal for the first eight minutes,and Chancie Dunn’s layup and foul were Clemson’s only points until Natiece Ford drilled her first career three-pointer at the 7:16 mark.

Clemson closed the half on an 11-2 run, going into the break trailing 34-14. Ford hit another three early in the second half to cut into the lead further, and a free throw from Shaniqua Pauldo cut the lead to 40-24 with 13:31 to play. Clemson had a chance to get within 13 with 13:00 to play, but Gramlich’s three rimmed out, and the Lady Tigers turned it over on their next four possessions and went without a hoop until Lindsey Mason hit a layup with 6:35 to play.

Pettaway went 4-4 from the line in the final moments, picking up two offensive rebounds as well for Clemson, who had a season-low eight points in the paint.

In all, Clemson scored 33 points offensively, the lowest offensive output in program history, and the 9-44 (.205) mark from the floor was the second-lowest mark in program history.

Clemson returns to action on Thursday in Tallahassee as they take on the Seminoles before returning home for a Jan. 8 showdown with Virginia in Littlejohn.