In the latest AP Top 25 polls released on Monday afternoon, both the Virginia Tech women's and men's basketball teams are ranked. The women moved up one spot to No. 6 in this week's rankings while the men entered the poll at No. 24.
Kenny Brooks & Co. are 10-0 after wins at Boston College (73-58) and vs. UNC Asheville (86-48) this week. In two games, the frontcourt of Taylor Soule, Elizabeth Kitley and D'asia Gregg combined for 84 points, 46 rebounds and 15 assists. It's a new program-best ranking for Tech, topping last week's No. 7. The team hasn't left the top 25 all season, and Kitley was named the ACC Player of the Week on Monday.
The Hokies have been exceptional defensively and have the No. 3 scoring defense in the country. Tech's forced at least 12 turnovers in every game this year and held its opponents below 40% shooting all but three times.
Despite All-American Ashley Owusu missing the last three games due to a broken pinkie on her shooting hand, Tech's continued to roll. Kayana Traylor started all three games in her absence and scored 19 points while six Hokies posted double-digit points against the Bulldogs.
Virginia Tech has a big test on its hands on Sunday vs. No. 5 Notre Dame. It's arguably the biggest women's basketball contest in Cassell Coliseum in school history, and it's a battle of two of the ACC's best teams. VT is 2-14 all-time against ND. The last win came on Feb. 20, 2020 in South Bend, Ind.
Four programs represented the league in the latest poll, headlined by the Irish at No. 5. North Carolina is seventh while NC State is eighth. Louisville, Virginia, Duke and Florida State all received votes.
On the men's side, the Hokies are back in the top 25 for the first time since the end of the 2020-21 season when they finished No. 25. Sitting at 10-1, they've ripped off five straight wins since their loss at College of Charleston. The last four were impressive: Minnesota, North Carolina, Dayton and Oklahoma State.
Grant Basile and Sean Pedulla paced Virginia Tech in the last week. The forward scored 23 vs. the Flyers and 13 in Brooklyn against the Cowboys, while Pedulla, Tech's leading scorer, had 19 and 16. Mike Young's crew ran away from Dayton, allowing the lowest points per possession mark (0.78) to date by an opponent this season. A 36-9 run over the final 14 minutes in the first half was the difference.
In the return to the Barclays Center after winning the program's first ACC title in New York in March, the Hokies were tested by Oklahoma State. A 21-8 run after intermission vaulted the Cowboys into the lead, but Tech's defense was the difference in the end, holding OSU to just four made field goals on its final 14 attempts.
With Justyn Mutts in foul trouble, the frontcourt depth also played a huge factor. Mylyjael Poteat posted eight points and six rebounds in 15 minutes. Six of his points came from the free throw line, where he was 6-of-6. On the year, he’s statistically Tech’s best shooter from the charity stripe at 17-of-19 (89.5%).
Virginia Tech also found success at the foul line. In the rock fight, the Hokies were 19-of-24 from the line (79.2%). Both numbers were season-highs.
The men are back in action on Saturday vs. Grambling State (4 p.m., RSN). It’s the second all-time meeting in the series – the first came in 2015 in an 87-52 win for Tech. With a road trip to Boston College around the corner on Dec. 21, the clash with the Tigers is the last tune-up for the Hokies before ACC play completely takes over.
Four ACC teams are in the AP Top 25: No. 2 Virginia, No. 12 Duke, No. 24 Virginia Tech and No. 25 Miami.