No. 9 Virginia Tech Rolls Past Georgia Tech In Regular Season Finale

On Sunday in Atlanta, No. 9 Virginia Tech looked like its usual self in a 65-52 win over Georgia Tech in the regular season finale. It was the eighth ACC victory in a row and the 14th on the year for the Hokies (24-4, 14-4 ACC), both program records.

Elizabeth Kitley was productive, posting her 52nd career double-double with a season-high 29 points and 11 rebounds. It was her fourth straight 20-point outing after she broke the record and hit the team’s game-winner on Thursday at No. 22 North Carolina.

Kayana Traylor scored 14 points, Cayla King added 10 and Georgia Amoore finished with eight as the offense flowed. The Hokies were extremely patient and picked their moments to strike against the Yellow Jackets (13-16, 4-14 ACC). They struggled between the first and fourth quarters, combining for 10-of-30 in those 20 minutes, but were 16-of-30 (53%) in the second and third.

Virginia Tech was solid on the glass, outrebounding Georgia Tech by six, 37-31. It was a team effort, too – Taylor Soule, D’asia Gregg and Traylor all grabbed seven boards to accompany Kitley’s 11. And VT had 16 assists, seven of which came from Amoore.

Cameron Swartz, a transfer from Boston College, led the Yellow Jackets with 20 points. She got hot from behind the arc, knocking down four of her nine 3-point attempts. However, she didn’t have much help. The second-highest scorer was Avyonce Carter, who had eight off the bench.

GT also got contributions from Tonie Morgan (seven points, seven rebounds), Kayla Blackshear (seven points, five rebounds) – the sister of former VT men’s basketball forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. – and Nerea Hermosa (six points, seven rebounds). But the Yellow Jackets couldn’t find consistency, turning it over 12 times for the game. Nine of those instances were in the first half.

Virginia Tech did a solid job on the defensive end, forcing eight steals. And the game progressed slowly. After only being separated by eight points at the end of the first quarter, VT used an 11-0 run over three minutes right before halftime to push the lead to 18. Yet, the Yellow Jackets scored six unanswered in the final 90 seconds of the first half and trailed by 12, 37-25.

Georgia Tech appeared to gain some momentum over the first few minutes of the third quarter. Swartz got two treys down in three minutes to trim the lead to nine; at the same time, the Hokies were 2-of-7 to start the half. But they soon found their footing, making four baskets in a row and throwing a punch right back. GT never got within single digits again, and Virginia Tech led by as many as 18 over the remainder of the game.

Kenny Brooks & Co. are the hottest team in the conference at the moment. Only Notre Dame, the ACC regular season champion who has won its last six, comes close. Since the defeat in late January at Duke, they’ve won eight games in a row by an average of 12 points per game. Moreover, seven of the eight were decided by double digits; the recent escapade in Chapel Hill was a two-point victory.

Everything appears to be coming together at the right time for Virginia Tech. Throughout the winning streak, its worst shooting performance was 40% in a 16-point drubbing of Duke. Rather, it shot above 50% three times and 49% twice.

On the other side, the defense has been key. Syracuse, Duke, NC State and Georgia Tech were all worse than 40%. At 48%, Florida State was the only opponent to post a clip better than 41%.

The attention for the Hokies now turns to the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C. As the No. 3 seed, they secured a double bye, meaning they won’t play until the quarterfinals on Friday. The highest seed in their path is No. 6 Miami, who had their number in a 77-66 loss in Coral Gables on Jan. 8.

Below is the full ACC tournament bracket. All games will be televised on the ACC Network while ESPN has the championship game on Sunday.

Box Score: Link