No. 11 Hokies Continue Their Dominance Late in the Season, Take Down the Wolfpack in Cassell Coliseum
With the final home game of the regular season occurring this afternoon, Liz Kitley, Taylor Soule, Kayana Traylor, Cayla King, D’asia Gregg, and Taylor Geiman were all recognized during the Senior Night ceremony in Cassell. With the regular season coming to an end and the team wanting to stay focused, it's a nice gesture to recognize the players who helped them get to where they are now.
"It’s a great way to send our seniors out," Coach Brooks exclaimed. "To my seniors that we celebrated today, they mean everything to me. From this program to the future, where we're going one by one, I've never experienced so much love during the pregame ceremony."
"Every time one of them walked out, it was just pure love, and not only between me and the kids, but their parents were the ones who allowed me to coach them and supported me and my staff in whatever we wanted to do as far as making them into great women."
It truly was a special night in Blacksburg as the No. 11 Hokies (22-4, 12-4 ACC) defeated the NC State Wolfpack (18-9, 8-8 ACC) once again by a score of 75-62. This Virginia Tech team has been dominant ever since the middle of January, and they hope to carry their dominance into postseason play.
Both teams got off to hot starts to open the game, as the ACC squads worked mostly in the interior in the first quarter. Despite Camille Hobby starting off the game with six quick points, the Hokies jumped out to an early 13-8 lead as Amoore was already up to four assists within the first six minutes of the game.
NC State took the lead back at the end of the quarter as Aziaha James got hot from three in her first start at point guard due to the limited roster for the Wolfpack. Despite losing the lead at the end of the first quarter, the Hokies stayed close as Gregg stayed a perfect 4-4 to help the Hokies in the early minutes of the second.
"She's special because you look at her background, " Coach Brooks said of D'asia Gregg. "She started at Georgia Tech and had a really rough first year when she went to junior college... She's gotten better every game every year since then to the point where she's as important to us as anybody in our program, and the way that she plays."
Amoore followed soon after with jumpers of her own, and Kitley really took off in the second quarter, competing with James as they both had 15 in the half. Balanced scoring from the Hokies helped them take a 47-36 lead.
The Hokies ran in transition and got quick shots down the floor, spreading the ball all around the floor to start the second half as they increased their lead to as much as 18 points. Kitley had a stellar game, responding inside in the second half, and played fantastic defense with seven blocks as the Wolfpack struggled shooting for most of the third quarter.
"Liz is playing great. I know there are some analysts out there who said that she's probably not the player of the year they have," Coach Brooks said. "They have a little bit of a bias towards some other programs, but she's a player of the year, and she's proven it night in and night out."
The Wolfpack got within nine points in the fourth quarter, but after that, it was lights out for NC State in Cassell Coliseum. Virginia Tech finished out the game and performed as well as they have in their last five games.
Next on the schedule for No. 11 Virginia Tech is another ranked opponent in No. 19 North Carolina. That game will be in the Carmichael Arena this Thursday at 8:00 p.m.
