No. 8 Virginia Tech Hammers Miami, Advances To ACC Tournament Semis

On Friday night in Greensboro, No. 8 Virginia Tech hammered Miami in the ACC tournament quarterfinals in its ninth straight win, 68-42.

The No. 3 seed Hokies (25-4, 14-4 ACC) held the Hurricanes (19-12, 11-7 ACC) to their second-fewest points on the season and limited them to 24% from the floor. At the same time, Tech was good enough offensively with a 39% clip and dominated on the glass, 50-37.

It was a comfortable enough win where Tech was “vanilla,” according to Tech head coach Kenny Brooks. His group was just that good. It allowed just two made baskets from the Canes in the first quarter (on 17 attempts) and no player had more than seven points.

“Phenomenal defensive effort from our group,” Brooks said after the victory. “They’ve been playing really, really good defense last month or two months of the season, and I thought they were really locked in, they were focused. They’re connected. They’re very connected with each other and what’s going on both ends of the floor. Very, very pleased with what they’re doing, and they looked good. I’m very, very proud of them.”

In Coral Gables on Jan. 8, Miami scored 77 points on 53% shooting. No one played well for Tech that night, according to Brooks.

Since, the Hokies are 12-1, winners of nine in a row. They’re the hottest team in the ACC, and they’ve strung solid defensive performances together lately. Friday was just another one of those. Miami head coach Katie Meier said Tech was “way more fueled” on that end of the floor than the first meeting.

“Their last month has been ridiculous,” Meier said. “We ran into it.”

Amazingly, Virginia Tech only made 39% of its shots (28-of-71). But it used a big lineup that featured two-time ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley (6-6), D’asia Gregg (6-2) and Soule (5-11). The latter two are versatile enough to stretch the floor – Gregg’s hit 20 3-pointers this season – and that posed a variety of problems for the Canes.

Miami went with a smaller lineup; that plan failed. Kitley (22 points, 10 rebounds) had her 52nd career double-double – three shy of Regan Magarity’s school record – while Soule added the 20th (13 and 10). Gregg was awfully close, finishing with nine points and 13 boards.

Tech was so dominant that Soule and Gregg made a halftime bet on who would grab more rebounds. Soule joked that, though Gregg was one point shy of a double-double – it would’ve been the ninth game in school history with three double-doubles for VT – she won their wager.

While Tech practices the bigger lineup now and then, it’s not the go-to. But when foul trouble arises, as it did on Friday night with Cayla King (three points), it’s a comfortable option. Gregg said it can be confusing to defenses at times because of how she and Soule are almost interchangeable at the three and four spots.

“D’asia Gregg, her versatility allows us to play big and she can step out on the perimeter,” Brooks said. “She knocked down a couple threes tonight, which really extends the defense. She’s a really good passer from that area. And then they have to pick their poison which smaller guard is going to guard Taylor Soule. It allows us to have some mismatches, but our offense still flows extremely smooth regardless of whether we have a smaller lineup, a traditional lineup or even a bigger lineup.”

Should Tech face a squad with multifaceted guards, weaknesses might come to light. But that wasn’t the case against the Canes.

The Hokies imposed their will. They didn’t let Miami be the more physical team, which was the case in the first meeting. Brooks has asked his team to be the aggressor over the last two months, and they did it again in the ACC tournament, even if they didn’t jump out to the large lead like they did vs. Duke, Florida State or NC State.

The Canes created some tough looks defensively. But Tech was patient. Opportunities came. And it helped that 25 points came on second chance opportunities from a season-high 19 offensive boards.

Georgia Amoore quietly had 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep. Kayana Traylor (five points, three steals) and King were quiet, hitting on just three of their 18 attempts. But the other four – Kitley, Soule, Gregg and Amoore – were exactly 50% (25-of-50).

Even when the Canes tried to switch things up and use different types of pressure, such as a 2-3 zone or hound Amoore, Tech didn’t let up. In fact, it used Soule to take some responsibilities off Amoore’s plate. Brooks compared it to the wildcat formation in football.

Teams have gone after Amoore recently. She’s Tech’s motor, sure. But to counteract that, the Hokies have let Soule run point a little bit, and it’s worked.

“She’s had a couple packages when she breaks the press, she can call a certain play, and it keeps us in a flow, and I really like that,” Brooks said of Soule. “That allows us to keep Georgia fresher.”

Virginia Tech led Miami 29-15 at halftime after a below average first half where it shot 32%. But the dam broke in the second half. The Hokies outscored the Canes by 10, 22-12, and shot 53% on 10-of-19 shooting. They regressed in the fourth quarter with a 40% mark, but it was enough.

Controlling the pace was also important. Tech had just six turnovers on 62 possessions, its best mark on the year (9.7%). And only three of those were actual steals by Miami.

A 10-0 run over the first five minutes of the third quarter cemented the result, and the Hokies cruised from there. They’ll quickly turn the page to No. 2 seed Duke, the 13th-ranked team in the country, who they face on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.

They split with the Blue Devils in the regular season; the home team won its respective meeting. Most recently, Tech throttled Duke in Cassell Coliseum, 61-45, thanks to good defense. Brooks will have his team ready, especially on the defensive end.

“If we just keep having the same focus on defense, I feel like we’ll go far,” Gregg said.

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