Tuesday’s 19-point loss to Liberty led Kenny Brooks to ponder why his team wasn’t knocking down open looks from three. Two days before, Virginia Tech’s head coach lost by six to Tennessee, a game in which his team wasn’t converting open looks either.
But that was against the 11th-best team in the country, one that eyes a Final Four berth by season’s end. He said that the Hokies didn’t look like themselves in the gut-wrenching losses to Tennessee and Liberty, and in the first half against Radford on Sunday, where Tech shot 15% from beyond the arc, he was forced to ponder it once more.
“We haven’t shot the ball well [during] the last three or four games and that’s pretty much what we’re based on,” Brooks said after the Hokies’ win.
Virginia Tech reverted back to its deadeye shooting in its 89-40 win against the Highlanders at Cassell Coliseum on Sunday, though Brooks reiterated that he still sees room for growth. The return of Elizabeth Kitley’s dominating presence down low — she had a combined 11 points in the losses to the Vols and Flames — certainly helped, as did RU’s man-to-man defensive scheme.
After struggling against Liberty, sharpshooters Kayana Traylor (15 points), Cayla King (six) and Emily Lytle (three points) caught fire and combined to shoot 40% from deep. Aisha Sheppard also added 15 more points on six field goals, three of which were from beyond the arc as Tech shot 40% from outside.
“We’re built off of making shots,” Brooks said. “We’re getting the looks we want to get. … But we’ve got to shoot the ball even better, because if we do that, [Kitley] has more room down low.”
With the victory over Radford (4-5) — the Hokies’ most lopsided win since they beatdown Coppin State by 53 points on Nov. 17 — Virginia Tech (8-3) closes out non-conference play with a strong mark. VT hasn’t played its best basketball in weeks, but Sunday’s win certainly points Tech in the right direction once ACC play begins next weekend with a matchup against Florida State.
RU started off strong, using Bridget Birkhead’s 15 first quarter points to pull within six by the end of the period. It was Brooks, though, who made the right adjustments, switching a defender on her any time Radford would set a screen for Birkhead, limiting her to one point for the rest of the afternoon.
“We lost [Birkhead] a couple times with over helping,” Brooks said. “And switching, there were a few times she got free.”
Kitley, who struggled in the Hokies’ prior two games, made her first eight shots on a day her older sister, Raven, was honored for autism awareness. She also recorded her 1,000th career point and secured her third double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 boards.
“It feels really good,” Kitley said of her milestone. “But I can’t think about it too much, but now I’m more excited because we’re about to start ACC play.”
Against RU’s soft interior defense, Kitley and Azana Baines had their way with whatever shot either of them wanted. Baines was thrust back into the starting lineup against Tennessee after Lytle replaced her in the team’s third game of the season. She rewarded Brooks’ decision with 14 points and 12 boards, good for her second double-double of the year.
“We’re just trying to find the chemistry,” Brooks said of his lineup switch. “In the beginning, I thought Azana wasn’t bringing the energy she had last year. … Azana has gotten back to the play she played last year. We’re just trying to find the right fit.”
With Baines’ skill set as a guard and her 6-foot-1 frame, she’s easily able to drive into the lane for easier buckets over smaller defenders. The Radford defense continued to guard the three-point line, allowing Kitley and Baines to make the Highlanders pay.
In the second half, Radford loosened up the three-point line and keyed in on Kitley and Baines, which created the most efficient looks in basketball: open threes and mid-range shots for VT’s sharpshooters.
As a team, Virginia Tech wasn’t hunting threes. Ill-advised looks in transition, common in the past two games, were rare on Sunday — especially in the second half, where the Hokies out-scored their opponent 49-9.
Instead, Virginia Tech shared the basketball and took the easy buckets in the paint, rather than forcing up shots from deep. That built a 21-0 run in the late third and early fourth quarter.
Outside of Birkhead, her team had no answers for a Virginia Tech defense that pressured them into ugly looks, bad shot selection in transition and 22 turnovers.
It was a complete game that Virginia Tech needed — badly. The Hokies were searching for some resilience before they opened the gauntlet that is the ACC schedule. And they got it. Not just from the starters, but from the entire team.
“You never know who needs to step up,” Brooks said.
Box score: Link
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