In his office a few days before Virginia Tech’s win over Boston College on Sunday, Kenny Brooks crumbled up a piece of paper in front of Aisha Sheppard and threw it in the trash can.
“That’s your season up to this point,” Brooks told his shooting guard. “A new season starts now.”
Their 40-minute conversation was about the highs and lows of Sheppard’s season. A year removed from being named as an All-ACC guard, there haven’t been too many peaks.
A 30-point effort against then-No. 11 Tennessee in early December was certainly at the pinnacle of her season. But soon after that, Sheppard’s performance tailed off.
In the 14 games since, she’s put up more than 15 points just twice — a 17-point outing against Liberty 48 hours after the Tennessee loss, and she scored 20 two weeks ago against Virginia.
But what happened on Tuesday night was exactly what Brooks envisioned during his conversation with his star guard. A re-introduction of sorts.
Sheppard, who Brooks said was looking more like her usual self on Sunday, dropped 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, a season-high in league play. Combined with Azana Baines’ career-high 20 points, the two outscored Clemson (8-16, 2-11 ACC) en route to Virginia Tech’s (17-6, 9-3 ACC) win on Thursday night in Cassell Coliseum, 73-42.
“When we started sharing the basketball, the lid really started to come off the basket,” Brooks said. “… [Aisha Sheppard] is starting to get back to her normal flow. Azana Baines was tremendous — we found her open a couple of times. A lot of people did a lot of different things.”
It was easily the Hokies’ best performance as a team all season, and Brooks agreed. Even though Elizabeth Kitley only scored two points, Sheppard’s and Baines’ production, combined with Georgia Amoore’s 14 points and Cayla King’s eight, Tech proved that no matter who has an ‘off-night,’ it has a plethora of other weapons to beat teams with.
But at first, it didn’t look like it’d be the blowout it became. In the first quarter, the Tigers grabbed eight offensive rebounds and attempted to set up the 3-point game. None of their four shots from deep found the bottom of the basket, but two of Sheppard’s five makes fell in the period.
“It felt great. … But it’s been a struggle,” Sheppard said. “But I trust my work, I trust what I’ve put into this program and everything that I’ve done when nobody's looking.”
Clemson only trailed by four at the end of the quarter and almost let the game slip away on a 10-2 run to open the second quarter. When the Hokies led by 12, Amoore picked up her second offensive foul on a charge with just over five minutes left in the first half. With Brooks playing the long game, he opted to sub Amoore out.
At that point, the Hokies had only turned the ball over three times and scored on six assists. Once Amoore hit the bench, Tech scored just five points before halftime and turned the ball over in six instances.
“I need her on the court because when she’s on the court good things usually happen,” Brooks said.
Failing to capitalize on the momentum the Hokies built in the second quarter, Clemson, led by Amari Robinson and Kionna Gaines, countered with a 12-5 run to close the gap at halftime to 29-25.
Out of the break, though, Virginia Tech’s halftime adjustments immediately paid off. Using a pair of threes, courtesy of Amoore and Sheppard, and two Baines layups, a 13-2 run to open the half sparked the Hokies as they outscored Clemson by 15 in the third quarter.
And then in the fourth period, the flood gates opened and the fat lady sang. Virginia Tech held Clemson to just 17 points in the second half, seven in the final ten minutes.
It was the performance Virginia Tech needed. It was never supposed to be a close game, even heading into the half. But after the break, the Hokies regrouped and refocused to hold Clemson to just six field goals in the last 20 minutes, all while breaking the game open with 16 of their own.
It’s a team that has laid its foundational pieces into place with veteran recruits like Sheppard, Amoore, Kitley and King. Transfers like Baines and Kayana Traylor have only added to the maturity that has grown with Brooks’ four foundational recruits.
“You have to have people that have been in your program a long time to get to where you wanna go,” Brooks said. “You can’t just expect to put players on teams and expect to win right away.”