Defense, 3-Point Shooting Leads Virginia Tech In Rout Of Syracuse

Bringing the ball up on the right side of the floor with just over a minute to go in the first half, Virginia Tech point guard Georgia Amoore handed the ball off to Elizabeth Kitley on the right wing.

The offense was searching for another basket — this one to put the Hokies up by 20 points — after Amoore’s defensive pressure on Syracuse’s Teisha Hyman forced her to mishandle her dribble as the ball bounced out of bounds.

After a series of passes, Cayla King’s layup clanked off the rim, but under the basket, D’asia Gregg bodied two Orange defenders for a rebound. Without hesitation, Gregg went back up to the basket with the basketball in her hand as she carefully placed it into the bottom of the basket.

Gregg didn’t look at anyone, nor did she say anything as she jogged back on defense. The Orange opted for a quick 3-pointer, but Gregg put a hand in Chrislyn Carr’s face to deter the shot from finding the bottom of the hoop.

In a season — and a night — where the Hokies’ offense (58.1% from the floor, 53.8% from deep) has overshadowed all else, it was their defense that, once again, created chances for VT’s offensive explosion.

It was, objectively, the most impressive outburst of the season, and maybe even in the Kenny Brooks era, as No. 23 Virginia Tech (20-6, 12-3 ACC) routed the Orange (11-14, 4-11 ACC) in Syracuse for its fifth-straight win, 102-53.

With the VT’s win and No. 3 Louisville’s loss to North Carolina on Thursday, the Hokies now sit a game behind the Cardinals. That turns Sunday afternoon’s matchup from an ordinary battle between two of the best teams in the ACC to a duel for second-place in the conference standings with just three games remaining on the schedule.

When Virginia Tech wins, there are a few constants: High-scoring outputs, with in-your-face defense that can slow any opponent in the ACC down. The team has proved it can do just that against teams like No. 24 North Carolina and No. 4 NC State.

That trend unfolded in the opening minutes against Syracuse, where the Hokies used four 3-pointers and two Kitley baskets to jump out to a 16-6 lead, while any sort of momentum built by the Orange was squashed on the other end of the floor. VT, meanwhile, rode the hot start to a 30-point first quarter, shooting 12-of-16 and 6-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Tech held Syracuse to shoot just 30.3% — the 10th time it’s held an ACC opponent to shoot under 40% in 15 tries — though the Orange were somewhat efficient from deep (9-of-28, 32.1%).

The Hokies controlled all other facets of the matchup: They won the rebounding battle (48-27), recorded 15 more assists than Syracuse, and used the size of Kitley, Gregg and Baines to control the paint, scoring 40 points to SU’s 12.

VT’s bench was much more effective with 28 points, where Syracuse lagged with only three. The only category the Orange led in was fast break points, 7-5.

The 102-point night set numerous records: It marked a new school record in points scored in an ACC game for Virginia Tech, beating its previous high of 95 set at Boston College on Feb. 3, 2009; the 49-point win now becomes the largest margin of victory for the Hokies in an ACC game, topping a 40-point win over Wake Forest in 2007; and 102 points are the most an opponent has scored in history of The Carrier Dome.

In addition, Kitley recorded conference-leading 11th double-double (24 points, 11 rebounds) and Aisha Sheppard was 6-of-11 from deep, where she inched 18 points closer to Renee Dennis’s program record of 1,791 points. The outing gives Sheppard a chance to break the record on Sunday in Louisville, where she sits just eight points away.

But once again, good defense turns into great offense. Maybe sparked by Amoore’s and Gregg’s efforts at the end of the first half gave the Hokies more confidence heading into the second half, where they held the Orange to shoot just 7-of-34 (20.6%).

Defense is something Brooks has stressed all season long. He says it’s the most overlooked part of his team’s game. But when his team is consistently good on offense and hits the century mark for the first time since Nov. 5, 2019, some things are bound to get overlooked.

Box Score: Link