Women’s Basketball Weekly Preview

No. 15 Virginia Tech vs. LIU | Wednesday, December 6, 6:00 p.m. | Blacksburg, VA

Long Island University is 1-7 on the year in the Northeast Conference (NEC). Their only win was a 60-53 game against Hampton in late November. The Sharks lost big to St. John’s, Minnesota, and Iona in their first three games, the closest of which was 21 points. VT is the only ranked team on the schedule, this is the definition of a tune-up for the Hokies.

The Sharks are led by Ashley Austin, a 5’6” senior who averages 14.5 ppg. Austin is the only Shark in double-digits. The team is largely inefficient at scoring, just under 38% as a unit. They’ve been outscored by 128 points in eight games, a -16 scoring margin on average.

Virginia Tech can continue playing with lineups and working out the kinks this week after a rough visit to LSU. This is a perfect game to rebuild confidence, get the bench more experience, and get closer to finding their identity.

No. 15 Virginia Tech vs. Radford | Sunday, December 10, 2:00 p.m. | Blacksburg, VA

Radford is 2-7 and ice cold. They won the first two against Concord and Western Carolina, but have entered a seven-game slide. Radford and VT have UNCG in common on the schedule, with Tech winning 72-51 and Radford losing 60-63. To put this game into perspective, the Hokies didn’t look particularly sharp against the Spartans but put it away up 19. They’ll look to defeat the local competition convincingly on Sunday.

The Highlanders’ Ashlyn Traylor-Walker gets the brunt of offensive production, leading in points and assists. She makes her presence known on defense too, with 0.6 blocks and 1.1 steals, among the highest numbers on the team. Interestingly, Ashlyn has three sisters, two of whom play for Radford as well; Pa’Shence and Adelyn. The third is Virginia Tech’s very own Kayana Traylor, who played two seasons with the Hokies before going 23rd overall to the Chicago Sky in the 2023 WNBA Draft.

Taniya Hanner will probably guard Kitley as Radford’s most experienced big, but sophomore Emma Fox may get minutes as well since she matches up better in terms of height.