No. 1 seed Virginia Tech extinguished No. 9 seed South Dakota State in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday in Cassell Coliseum, 72-60, advancing to the Sweet 16.
The Hokies (29-4) came out firing on all cylinders in front of another sold-out crowd and hit eight first-half 3-pointers to get an early edge. They played good defense, too, holding the Jackrabbits (29-6) to 33% from the field in the first 20 minutes en route to their 29th win of the season, a program record.
South Dakota State adjusted after halftime and outscored Tech 37-26 the rest of the way — Hokies guard Georgia Amoore said her team took a “step back in aggression" after intermission. But Virginia Tech found a way to grind out the victory, its 13th in a row and 16th in Blacksburg this season — both program records — on its way to its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999.
“So proud of these kids, so proud of this program,” Tech head coach Kenny Brooks said afterwards. “To be able to get this group, this program to this level is very, very special, and I couldn’t do it without these young ladies.
“We knew we were going to have our hands full, but the kids came out, got off to a great start. Didn’t finish the way we wanted to, but it’s very gratifying to be able to get to this point.”
Like they had so many times this season, the Hokies flew out of the gates and immediately imposed their will. They led 19-7 after 10 minutes, 46-23 at halftime and it seemed as if the game was over.
But the Jackrabbits battled back. They adjusted, got physical and drove at the rim, drawing nine third-quarter fouls in the process. Moreover, they held Tech to just 4-of-16 from the floor in that quarter; for comparison, VT made 52% of its looks in the first half.
“I think we settled into a better defensive plan that I wish we would’ve gotten to sooner,” SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said. “They weren’t getting as many good shots. They certainly missed some open ones in the second half, but in the first, I thought they were all just getting rhythm threes, and that’s kind of on us as coaches.”
Indeed, Amoore found a rhythm early, knocking down three 3-pointers in the first six-plus minutes. And the Hokies got hot from behind the arc. Five of their first six baskets were from long range, which helped them explode to a 17-7 lead.
On Friday vs. Chattanooga in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Amoore was the only Tech player to get a trey down. Kayana Traylor and Cayla King both hit one in the first three minutes on Sunday, which was a huge boost.
Brooks mentioned that Traylor actually had a scare in practice earlier in the week where it looked like she hyperextended her knee. But after MRIs, it was determined that she was good. And she was huge for the Hokies in both games of the Blacksburg subregional. She scored 12 points vs. the Mocs, 11 vs. the Jackrabbits and was a combined 10-of-15 with nine rebounds in the two outings. All of her points on Sunday came in the first half.
“Right before the game, I said, ‘Look, I want to look out there and I want you to have a smile on your face the whole game because you're playing loose and free,’” Brooks said of Traylor. “And she came out and she gave us a big spark in the first half, helped us a lot in the second half, did a great job defensively, and I’m very proud of her, very happy for her.”
And it was in the second quarter that Elizabeth Kitley got going. After a 1-of-6 start, she made five of her next six before halftime. She and Traylor had 12 and 11, respectively, at the break while Amoore and King had nine each.
Yet, South Dakota State came alive. Led by Myah Selland’s 17 points, it strung together a few runs — 6-0 and 7-0 in the third quarter — that made the Cassell Coliseum crowd a bit nervous.
“We needed to be more alert,” Brooks said. “I thought we were back on our heels, and they were coming at us. We were reacting, and it was a little bit too late, and we gave up some and-ones. We almost were playing not to lose instead of playing to win.”
But the Hokies didn’t panic on the floor. They used lessons learned throughout a challenging ACC slate to maintain composure. And the margin never shrunk below 10 points.
Though they didn’t necessarily adjust to get better looks offensively — they were 9-of-31 (29%) in the second half — they got buckets when needed.
Taylor Soule came alive, scoring 11 of her 13 points in the second half. And Amoore was clutch when called upon. The Aussie, who dropped more than 20 points for the fourth straight contest, hit four second-half threes that kept the Jackrabbits at bay. The latter two — with 1:50 and 1:12 remaining, respectively — iced the game.
“I love the way that they're connected,” Brooks said of his team. “We lost to Duke on January the 26 and we didn't panic. We knew how good we could be. From that point on, they've had a different look in their eye to continue to be able to get to this point right now.”
Virginia Tech played good defense down the stretch — Soule was particularly impressive on two-time Summit League Player of the Year Selland — and closed out their second-round win.
It was a surreal stretch of days in Blacksburg. A sold-out crowd energized Tech in two major victories to get them to the Sweet 16 for just the second time ever. But when one remembers where the program once was — there weren’t even 1,000 fans to see Tech in the WNIT in 2016-17, the first year under Brooks — it’s eye-opening to see the progress.
Now, the Hokies are finalizing their plans in Seattle. They’ll see the winner of No. 4 seed Tennessee and No. 13 seed Toledo on Saturday, March 25 in Climate Pledge Arena, and they continue to inch towards their goal. The box for the Sweet 16, which was an objective at the beginning of the year, has been checked off. What’s next?
“The very first game that I ever coached as a head coach on the women's side, it was in this building,” Brooks said, “and I was at James Madison, and we played against Bonnie Henrickson's team and we lost in overtime. I remember after the game, Coach [Frank] Beamer ... said, "Good game, young fella."
“In a full-circle moment, Coach Beamer is out there telling me what a great program we have right now. … I’m just very happy our kids are able to experience this.”
Box Score: No. 1 Virginia Tech 72, No. 9 South Dakota State 60
Transcript: Kenny Brooks, Elizabeth Kitley, Georgia Amoore