No. 8 Virginia Tech Outplays No. 13 Duke, Advances To ACC Tournament Final

Years ago, it would’ve been a surprise to see Virginia Tech playing on Sunday afternoon in Greensboro, N.C. in an ACC tournament final. Not in 2023.

For the first time in program history, the Hokies ran the gauntlet and advanced past the semifinal round. As the No. 8 team in the country and the league’s No. 3 seed, they handled expectations. After hammering Miami on Friday, they outplayed No. 13 Duke on Saturday afternoon in a 58-37 win, their 10th in a row. And they’ll get their chance at a trophy on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN vs. No. 4 seed Louisville.

“I was very proud of the kids,” Tech head coach Kenny Brooks said after the victory. “Duke is a very good basketball team, one of the best defensive teams in the country. They make you play on your heels a lot, but ever since our loss to them in Durham, we’ve played a different style. We’ve been physical on both ends of the floor, running through our passes, getting to our spots. Tonight was no different. We knew we had to be that way.

“Not done yet. Very happy to be in the championship game, but our goal is to win a championship.”

Virginia Tech (26-4) was its usual self against the No. 2 seeded Blue Devils (25-6). It won the rebounding battle by 19, 41-22. It shot 51.2% from the floor (22-of-43) and a season-high 52.9% from distance (9-of-17), too. And Georgia Amoore was the best player on the court, as she has often been for the team when needed this season.

Her 24 points propelled the Hokies in their 21-point win. She made nine of her 16 shots, including six 3-pointers on eight attempts, while dishing out seven assists and corralling five boards. Moreover, she was the only player on either team that scored in double figures; Elizabeth Balogun’s nine points for the Blue Devils were the second-most.

She was the “difference-maker” in the eyes of Duke head coach Kara Lawson, and her ability to make shots – a few on step-back jumpers – opened up the game. In the second quarter, she got hot, scoring 11 points in less than six minutes. As Virginia Tech locked down the Duke offense, the lead steadily grew. And an 8-0 spurt, after which Lawson called timeout, turned into 17-0.

The Hokies held the Blue Devils scoreless for the final 6:13 of the first half and the contest got out of hand. At intermission, it stood 36-18.

“It’s almost like, ‘Get Georgia the ball,’” Tech guard Cayla King said. “When she’s feeling it, she just has a different look on her face. I feel like every time the ball leaves her hands, it’s going in the goal, and I think everyone on the team has that same feeling.”

Not much changed after recess; Duke couldn’t find a way climb back into the game. It finished 15-of-56 (26.8%) from the field despite only committing nine turnovers.

Brooks & Co. didn’t exactly run away with it – they only made two baskets in the first four minutes of the third quarter. It was a similar situation in the fourth when a 6-0 stretch from Duke over four minutes trimmed the margin to 14 points. But they found a way to close out the game, outscoring the Blue Devils 8-1 over the final four minutes.

As has been the theme throughout the 10-game win streak – and for the majority of the season – Tech set itself up with good defense. It was the aggressor and attacked. And Brooks threw in some new wrinkles, which worked.

“We ran a couple plays [in the second half] … and Georgia hit two straight 3-pointers,” Brooks said. “That was a wrinkle, and we knew they were playing so hard and trying to force [Elizabeth Kitley] off of her spot that we just told Georgia, ‘Instead of setting a back screen, pop out and you’ll be wide open,’ and she hit two threes right there.”

Kitley finished with eight points, her lowest mark since the team’s loss to Duke in late January. But she still had an impact, grabbing 11 rebounds and often acting as a decoy.

Kayana Traylor (eight points, six rebounds, four assists), D’asia Gregg (seven points, seven rebounds) and King (seven points, four rebounds) all chipped in, too. Taylor Soule spent much of the game in foul trouble but had four points, all free throws in the final frame.

Though there was a large drop-off after Amoore’s scoring, the Hokies did what they set out to do: win. And they accomplished that by locking in defensively.

Now, Virginia Tech has a chance to win an ACC championship. Hired in 2016, Brooks slowly lifted the program out of the ground. Seven years later, he has the opportunity to reach an important benchmark.

Sunday’s national stage is sought after by many. But it’s why Kitley, King, Amoore, Traylor, Gregg and Taylor Geiman all attended Virginia Tech. They shared Brooks’ vision. And they’ll have their moment in the spotlight against the Cardinals soon enough, a team they beat by two in Cassell Coliseum in January.

“We’re really looking forward to tomorrow,” Kitley said. “We’ve played them before, we’re familiar with each other. It’s the third game for both teams, so it’s really just going to be whoever pushes the hardest. But we want this really bad.”

Box Score: No. 8 Virginia Tech 58, No. 13 Duke 37