Virginia Tech bounced back from its bitter trip south to the Bayou, drowning the Long Island Sharks 98-50 inside Cassell Coliseum on Wednesday night.
“It’s a good win for us at this stage of the year. We try to stack the games and accumulate the good opportunities and good performances,” Kenny Books said after the match. “We challenged a lot of kids throughout the week and I think we got a lot of good answers.”
The Hokies entered this contest with a whopping 52.5 point margin, probably the largest point spread I have seen for a women’s college basketball game. Although LIU covered that high spread, Tech performed well across the board in their 48-point win that moved them to 6-2 on the season.
While the Sharks stayed in the fight against the Hokies for the first five minutes, the game quickly spiraled out of control as Tech went on a 13-2 run in the final four minutes of the first quarter to take a 14-point lead that wouldn’t have been possible. I’m not about to be abandoned.
Cayla King led the Hokies with 21 points, her third-best score of her career, and made seven threes, two shy of tying her career-best score of nine. Tech needed a big outing from King as the grad guard only had three points last time out against LSU.
“I was definitely looking for my shots more, against LSU I was waiting for them to come to me but this game I was looking for it. For us to play well, I have to keep shooting even if I’m not making the best shot. Cayla King said after the match.
While King was the night’s leading scorer, Tech’s All-American point guard Georgia Amoore was the dispenser of more than just a few delicious pennies. Amoore finished the night with 14 assists, two shy of tying her career-high of 16 that she set against Houston Christian in November.
“They play me like a shooter, I missed a little but I still have the aggressive mentality. This evening, the opportunities to pass presented themselves. I have matured a lot in this field and I like having girls around me who can succeed all the time. Georgia Amoore said after the match.
Amoore’s play had an effect on the entire team as the Hokies dished out 30 assists as a team, the most in program history for a game played at home at Cassell Coliseum. Additionally, Tech was also dynamite from downtown, knocking down 17 three-balls as a team, which was also the most by any program in history for a game in Cassell.
“One of the things I emphasized before speaking was sharing the game of basketball, playing for each other and making each other better. I thought tonight was a good example of that. » said Brooks.
As a team, the Hokies shot 54 percent from the field, 48 percent from long range and forced 19 LIU turnovers on the defensive end. Virginia Tech had six players reach double figures in scoring. Liz Kitley had her steady performance, the two-time ACC Player of the Year had 17 points and 10 rebounds on 7-11 shooting from the floor.
The Hokies also benefited from solid production from Michigan State transfer Matilda Ekh, who scored 13 points on an efficient shooting night. The Hokies rookie also stepped up, including 29 combined points from Carys Baker, who had a perfect 7-7 shooting at one point, and Clara Strack. Baker and Strack were given the freedom to take the reins a bit and they both took full advantage of it.
“We will need their production down the line. They’re both very talented and they give us what we need,” Brooks said. “Carys shoots the ball as well as anyone on the team…and then one of the things I saw with Clara in the LSU game was the fact that she was fearless. She played hard and aggressive and I liked that.
Kenny Brooks challenged his team to take over and they did just that in the Hokies’ nearly 50-point victory. While Tech fell six spots in the latest AP Top 25 poll, Tech isn’t getting bogged down by external factors. The Hokies will instead let their destiny be written of their own accord.
“We went from a second seed in bracketology to a five seed and our two losses are to the number four and seventh ranked team in the country…we can’t go out there and lose and stay where we are in classification. rankings. The other teams in the top 10 have a loss or two, but how many of them drop six spots,” Brooks said. “It opened our eyes, but in a good way. We have to control what we can control and I like the way we responded tonight.
Next up for Virginia Tech is another home fight in Blacksburg as the Hokies invite their conference opponents the Radford Highlanders to Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies and Highlanders will tip off at 2 p.m. this Sunday as Tech looks to pick up another non-conference win.
2023-12-07 16:28:47
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