For Elizabeth Kitley, her team's success hasn't sunk in. But she’ll carve out time to sit and appreciate the journey after the season is over. As of now, she and Virginia Tech have a Sweet 16 game vs. Tennessee to prepare for.
The Hokies (29-4, 14-4 ACC) and Volunteers (25-11, 13-3 SEC) aren’t strangers. They’ve met four times in the last 10 years, including in December in Knoxville. Tech is 3-1 — the lone defeat came in Blacksburg in 2021.
But the stakes are higher for Saturday’s contest in Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle (6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2); an Elite 8 berth is on the line.
“It’s a huge milestone for the program,” Kitley, an All-American selection and the two-time ACC Player of the Year, said of making the Sweet 16. “... We just have another game coming up that we’re really excited for, and we know that [it] will require all of our focus because Tennessee’s a really good team.”
Tech’s the second-hottest team in the country at the moment. South Carolina is the only other program with more than 10 consecutive wins. While the Gamecocks and Dawn Staley are 34-0 this season, the Hokies rattled off 13 straight victories at the same time. They are the only two No. 1 seeds remaining — how fitting.
Virginia Tech and Tennessee are both different than they were back in December, though. Teams handle ups and downs throughout the year; both squads are great examples of that.
Tamari Key, the Vols’ 6-6 center who played against the Hokies in Thompson-Boling Arena, missed most of her senior season due to blood clots in her lungs. Yet, her teammate and the team’s leading scorer, 6-2 forward Rickea Jackson (19.3 points per game), did not appear in Tech’s 59-56 victory due to a “coach’s decision.”
Meanwhile, the Hokies were trying to find their footing on Dec. 4 after losing former All-American Ashley Owusu to a broken finger she suffered a few days earlier vs. Nebraska. To that point, they had spent seven games integrating her into their system; with the snap of a finger, she missed 10 games. And they had to readjust again.
“What we can take away [from the first encounter] is the physicality and speed,” Tech head coach Kenny Brooks said on Wednesday. “... We know what the physicality is going to be like. They’re a different basketball team than they were on Dec. 4, but so are we. … We were still trying to figure out who we were.
“We’re a much better team now, as I think they are. I think they were going through some things. So, I think there will be some familiarity, but I think it’s two totally different teams. We’ll look at the film and we’ll watch it, but it’s probably going to be a totally different scout.”
Virginia Tech had a multitude of tests throughout the season in ACC play like Notre Dame and Florida State. It also saw Miami, Louisville, North Carolina and NC State twice each — the former two who are Sweet 16 bound — and Duke three times. Nebraska and Missouri, two WNIT teams, were benchmarks in the non-conference.
Tennessee’s also seen its share of excellent competition, however. It opened the season against Ohio State on the road, hosted Indiana, UCLA, Colorado, UConn and the Hokies, met Gonzaga in The Bahamas and traveled to Stanford. Though it went 1-6 in those outings and lost by an average of 11 points, only the UConn game occurred in 2023.
Since the new year, the Volunteers are 16-5 with defeats to the Huskies, Gamecocks (twice) and two NCAA tournament teams in LSU and Mississippi State. They’ve won eight of their last 10 games and steamrolled their way through the Knoxville subregional with wins over St. Louis (95-50) and Toledo (94-47).
“They’re great,” Brooks said of Kellie Harper’s Tennessee team. “They were preseason No. 4 or No. 5 for a reason. They’re talented, they’re big, they’re strong. They play a version of basketball that’s very, very hard to guard, and they’re getting it together right now.
“Kellie does a tremendous job. … At this stage, she’s managing egos as much as she is the game because they have such a collection of talent and all of them want to play. Now, they understand their roles, and they’re really good in their roles right now.”
Jackson’s scored in double figures in 21 games in a row. Jordan Horston’s been on more than off, but she was at her best against good competition — she put up a game-high 26 points vs. Tech in December, 27 vs. Mississippi State, 27 vs. UConn and 33 in two games vs. USC.
Moreover, the Vols have depth. Jordan Walker (5-8), Tess Darby (6-1) and Karoline Striplin (6-3) complement Horston and Jackson well in the starting lineup; Jillian Hollingshead (6-5), Jasmine Powell (5-6), Sara Puckett (6-2) and Jasmine Franklin (6-1) provide extra numbers that some teams don’t have. Harper used six players off the bench vs. VT; more recently in the SEC tournament, she found consistency with four.
“They just have depth in a few positions, especially at the five,” Kitley said. “I know they run at least three girls in that position, so [we] have to be ready for that. We just really have to be updated on their personnel and know them really well.”
Brooks thought his Virginia Tech team was “resilient” in its victory almost four months ago. The Hokies were pressured, were discombobulated and almost handed the game away down the stretch, yet they found a way to cross the finish line.
On an afternoon when Kitley was silent (six points, 3-of-13), Taylor Soule scored just four points and Georgia Amoore made just two of her 14 shots while turning it over six times, Kayana Traylor’s 18 led the way. Cayla King chipped in 11, D’asia Gregg added 10 and Tech hit free throws to ice the game.
How will the Hokies write the next chapter of their storybook season on Saturday?
“We’ve been playing elimination basketball, playoff basketball since … early February,” Brooks said. “... They lock in, they focus, they let nothing bother them and they just understand the task at hand. We’re a No. 1 seed, and immediately everyone wants to say because it’s not UConn or whoever else, we don’t deserve a No. 1 seed.
“We just let that fuel us and we go out and play one game at a time. And lo and behold, there’s only two No. 1 seeds going into the Sweet 16, and we’re one of them.”