No. 11 Virginia Tech Zooms Past No. 19 Florida State In Blowout Victory

Fans were still filing into the arena – with maroon shirts, a cheap ticket in their hands and an empty seat waiting for them – when Virginia Tech took over Cassell Coliseum.

Twelve seconds in, as the crowd bellowed the chorus to “Enter Sandman,” Georgia Amoore intercepted a bad pass from Florida State’s Jazmine Massengill and then tossed the basketball to Kayana Traylor, who wound up and splashed a 3-pointer. 

That possession accounted for the first of 34 points in a record first quarter for the No. 11 Hokies in their 84-70 victory over the No. 19 Seminoles on Sunday afternoon. The period set the tone for Virginia Tech (20-4, 10-4 ACC) in its fourth straight win, the second over a ranked opponent.

“Getting off to the start that we got off to was very, very important for us,” head coach Kenny Brooks told reporters after the victory. “Collectively, that was a great effort. You know, we’re in a gauntlet right now.”

In essence, it was a fight that never really ever felt fair from the very beginning. After Traylor’s three to open the game, Cayla King followed with one of her own on the next possession. FSU (20-7, 9-5 ACC) called timeout and then never recovered. In the Hokies’ next nine attempts in the period, the Hokies hit six treys – three from Amoore (who recorded her 1,000th career point), a pair via King and another from Traylor. They were 8-of-11, a new school record for 3-pointers in a quarter.

It was a start that Tech needed because, outside of a few games in its conference schedule lately, it struggled to score the basketball to open games. In two of VT’s last four games, it trailed at the end of the first quarter (Duke and Syracuse).

But the energy from the start flowed well down at NC State on Monday (Tech opened on a 13-2 run against the Wolfpack) and certainly carried over on Sunday. And more tone-setting opening quarters will be needed as VT plays three more games against ranked opponents in the next two weeks (No. 9 Duke, No. 22 NC State and No. 14 North Carolina). 

“I think it’s coming together,” Brooks said about his team’s recent hot starts. “Kids are really understanding what their roles are. … We have so many different weapons and we don’t just have to rely on one area.”

The Hokies, currently in third place in the conference, sit in the driver’s seat for a top four seed entering the ACC Tournament. They’re on the right track for a potential host bid for the NCAA Tournament, too. Sunday’s result was another step in the right direction towards both.

“I think it would mean the absolute world for Blacksburg,” Amoore said about hosting an NCAA Tournament game.

However, the scoring slowed a bit for Virginia Tech in the second. A change in FSU’s defense – from man-to-man to zone – halted the Hokies’ high-flying offense for a little bit. They scored 13 points in the period, but Florida State matched that with 14.

“Keeping the mindset that the game – in the moment – is the most important thing,” Soule said about playing with a big lead early. “Keeping your foot on the gas and making sure you’re still doing the little things no matter what the scoreboard says.”

Thanks to the outburst in the first 10 minutes, Tech didn’t need to score in bunches or press on offense in the period. And it wasn’t like one person took over the scoring for Tech in the first half, too. Amoore led the way with 12, but it also got nine points from King. Taylor Soule (seven), Traylor (six), Elizabeth Kitley (five) and D’asia Gregg (five) helped Tech take a 47-25 lead into the half.

In the third, the Seminoles pushed back some more as they outscored the Hokies, 22-17. But Tech’s lead never dipped below 12. FSU remained in its zone, which forced five turnovers, and Tech’s offense just kept pace with Florida State. Kitley was forced to leave the game with foul trouble.

“For us, the beauty is that we’re going to rely on [Kitley] a lot but we don’t have to rely on her to win,” Brooks said. “When [Kitley] goes out, it shifts our focus a little bit, but we don’t panic. And today, they stepped up and they did a really good job for her.”

And in the fourth, Virginia Tech put the rest of the game to rest. Brooks let Amoore take control of the offense for the rest of the afternoon as Kitley sat on the bench in foul trouble. Everything ran through her as she drove to the basket, used an effective pick-and-roll with D’asia Gregg and even knocked down a 3-pointer with three defenders in her face. 

“[Amoore is] at the top of her game and deadly,” FSU head coach Brooke Wycoff said.

For most of the afternoon, the offense was free-flowing and on cruise control. If her team was the engine (four others scored in double figures), Amoore – and her team-leading 24 points – was the driver.

“I’m very lucky to have a point guard and teammate in Georgia when she’s playing confident,” Soule said. “Obviously, [it] helps with the shots going in. But we just want [her to be] confident when she’s running the team the way she does, on both ends of the floor, [it] helps us out tremendously, helps me out.”

Box Score: Link