Virginia Tech, behind 21 points from Georgia Amoore and 20 from Aisha Sheppard, coasted to a convincing 71-42 win over Virginia Thursday night at JPJ.
The Hokies (15-5, 7-2 ACC) had a pair of extended runs, a 14-1 in the first quarter and a 14-0 streak in the third, to win the second meeting of the two teams in a 10-day span.
UConn transfer Mir McLean, in her first game playing with the Cavaliers (3-14, 0-7 ACC), scored 11 points with a team-high nine rebounds. Grad student guard Amandine Toi scored a team-high 13 points.
The game opened with four lead changes in the first five minutes. Toi hit a pair of three-pointers in the first three minutes of the game, but it was a layup from grad student center Eleah Parker with 6:29 remaining in the period that gave UVA a 9-6 lead. A three-pointer from Cayla King tied the game and was the start of a 14-1 run by the Hokies to close out the period. Virginia Tech took a 20-10 lead into the second quarter.
McLean ended the Virginia scoreless spell with a layup 40 seconds into the second quarter. Another McLean layup pulled the Cavaliers to within six, 25-19, with 4:05 remaining in the half, but Virginia Tech answered with an and-one on the opposite end. The Hokies took a 33-23 lead into the break.
Virginia scored six points in the first 35 seconds of the second half, on a layup from Parker followed by a fast-break bucket from junior guard Taylor Valladay to narrow the gap to 33-27. A three-pointer from Aisha Shepard at the 7:37 mark pushed the Hokies back out to a double-digit lead and started a 14-0 run. Junior forward London Clarkson ended the run with a layup with 3:40 remaining in the period, with the Cavaliers trailing 50-31. Virginia Tech went 6-of-8 from three-point range in the period to build up a 57-35 lead heading into the fourth.
Virginia Tech scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter. Valladay made the Cavaliers’ first field goal of the period, pulling up for a free throw line jumper 5:13 into the period. Neither team made a field goal for the final 2:47 of the contest.
Postgame: UVA coach Tina Thompson
“I’m really disappointed with our effort tonight. As hard as we work every day, there is no excuse for not competing consistently. I take full responsibility for that. I’m responsible for how we show up as a team and how we compete from the start to the finish of the game. I’ve made excuses just a little bit for why we show up the way that we show up. But we’re not doing that anymore. We have all been given a great opportunity and it is our responsibility to show up and show gratitude for the opportunity that we have been given. We had conversations about that. At the end of the day, we’re representing a fine university that exudes excellence and the expectation is that, so we have to show up differently.”
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Chris Graham
