SEATTLE — Virginia Tech has faced a variety of opposing styles this season. A few of them — Clemson, Duke, Louisville and Miami — are similar to what they’ll experience on Monday night in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament vs. Ohio State. But few teams, if any, are as ferocious as the Buckeyes.
“You can’t scout it,” OSU guard Rikki Harris of her team’s pressure, which is often 94 feet at 100 miles per hour for 40 minutes. “Nobody can really scout it because we don’t even know what we’re going to do next, so how can somebody else know?”
Climate Pledge Arena is the setting for the second-ever Hokies-Buckeyes clash, which will be televised on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT) on Monday. The first was in West Palm Beach, Fla. in Dec. 2018, a game Kenny Brooks & Co. won by eight, 81-73.
Both teams are drastically different five years later, especially with personnel. But the gameplan for Ohio State (28-7), once an offensive-driven program, has shifted to the defensive end. They’re “a different animal,” according to Brooks, who has known OSU head coach Kevin McGuff since his James Madison tenure.
Why? Well, even though a press is a press, the Buckeyes are built to sustain it. They’re not extremely lengthy — they only have four players taller than 6-1 — but they possess great speed and quickness. “If we don’t press, we don’t win,” Harris said.
The Hokies (30-4) encountered similar squads earlier in the year, though. While they weren’t perfect — they dropped road games at Clemson, Miami and Duke, three teams that love to press — they have plenty of experience against it. Throw in two games vs. Louisville and two vs. Tennessee and they’re 7-3 against teams with that approach.
At Clemson in late December, the Hokies turned it over five times in less than three minutes as the Tigers ran away with the game. Though they committed just nine miscues in Coral Gables, they never found a rhythm because of the pressure. It was a similar story in Durham in a season-changing defeat where they gave it away 17 times and shot 35%.
But as the season grew older, they handled it better. It was more than just Georgia Amoore, who has scored more than 20 points in five straight games. She can break the press by herself, but it evolved into more of a team effort when VT saw Duke, Louisville and Miami again.
“The more you go against it, the more experience you get with it,” Tech guard Kayana Traylor said on Sunday. “I think we knew that Tennessee was going to press us eventually [on Saturday], but I think it was honestly, in the big picture, nice to get reps against it. … I think as long as we’re confident with it, I’ll think we’ll be OK.”
Traylor knows she’ll have a share of the load in that type of environment, as will Cayla King. D’asia Gregg and Elizabeth Kitley will need to be outlets. But Taylor Soule might be the key.
Brooks joked that she’s a “runaway freight train coming down the lane,” but even though she’s been sloppy at times, her presence has been calming. It takes weight off the shoulders of Amoore and Traylor while her versatility at the four is something most opponents lack. That’s an element that Tech incorporated which can provide much-needed relief.
“I’ve just gained a lot of confidence in my ballhandling,” Soule said. “And I love when I hear that my teammates need me. So, hearing Coach Brooks emphasize his desire for me to 1. Stay out of foul trouble and 2. Have the confidence to tell Georgia, ‘Hey, it’s OK, I got you for a second’ and handle the ball, that’s a role that is new to me, but I like it.”
However, Soule could play an important part outside of the stress that Ohio State might create. It’s an undersized Buckeyes team, one that’s struggled to contain bigs at times this season. Kitley will have the chance to do her thing, but the big man lineup with Soule and Gregg interchangeable at the four and five could be an advantage.
That lineup gives the Hokies the ability to switch just about everything on the floor defensively, an area they’ve thrived lately. Over the course of their 14-game winning streak, they’ve held each opponent below 1.00 points per possession, and only Florida State shot better than 40%.
“They're really disciplined,” McGuff said. “They're good kind of in the gaps trying to take away driving lanes. They've got good size and athleticism around the basket, so they can kind of protect the rim. And then they really finish off possessions well by rebounding the ball.”
The Buckeyes have some shooters that can cause some problems. Brooks remarked that they’re as good on the offensive end as they are defensively. And Big Ten Freshman of the Year Cotie McMahon is a big reason why.
A 6-foot forward, she torched UConn for 23 points in the Sweet 16. She’s a player Brooks and his team have admired from afar all season long; now they’ll face her. Soule will likely draw the matchup.
“Basketball is competitive; obviously, we want to win,” Soule said. “But I think sometimes you just have to step back and be like, ‘I’m a fan.’ And I’m definitely a fan of her. She plays extremely hard, she plays confident and I’m excited to go up against her.”
Point guard Jacy Sheldon is the team’s fourth-leading scorer at 12.8 points per game behind Taylor Mikesell, McMahon and Taylor Thierry. But she’s hit some clutch shots, including the game-winner vs. North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA tournament. She and the veteran Mikesell pace an Ohio State team that hasn’t shot the ball extremely well this season — it made 38% of its shots vs. UConn — but has relied on its defense.
“[McMahon] is playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Amoore said. “And they have Taylor Mikesell, she’s known for being an offensive juggernaut, and you have Jacy Sheldon, who is really athletic. … They’re a group that’s playing full of confidence right now, but so are we.”
Staying composed and controlling the pace is crucial for Virginia Tech vs. Ohio State, who is top-20 in the country in turnovers forced per game. The Hokies have done that well over the last month; this time, a trip to Dallas is at stake.
“Our kids are ready,” Brooks said. “They’ve played against top-level competition and that’s prepared us for moments like this.”