Taylor Valladay Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball — Photo courtesy of Virginia Athletics Communications

UVA Women's Basketball Falls to Virginia Tech 69-52 in Commonwealth Clash

Taylor Valladay scored a career-high 16 points, but the Hoos fell to the Hokies on Tuesday night

Author:
Kathleen Boyce
Publish date:
Jan 18, 2022 7:38 PM EST

After weather canceled weekend games for both teams, the Virginia Cavaliers (3-11, 0-4 ACC) lost to the Virginia Tech Hokies (13-4, 5-1 ACC) in the rescheduled Commonwealth Clash on Tuesday night in Blacksburg.

In the first quarter, the two teams went back and forth and the Hokies led 15-12 after the first ten minutes. Elizabeth Kitley had ten points in the first quarter alone to lead Virginia Tech, and Amandine Toi was Virginia’s leading scorer with five points.

Virginia hung around and was able to bring the score to just a one-point difference at 20-19 early in the second quarter, but then the Hokies put together an 11-0 run to lead 31-19. Georgia Amoore had four points in the run.

Cavalier Taylor Valladay made two free throws at the end of the second quarter to make it a 31-21 game going into halftime.

Virginia played the Hokies evenly in the third quarter, but the team couldn’t close the gap. Taylor Valladay scored six points and Carole Miller added four points for the Cavaliers.

Elizabeth Kitley continued her dominance inside and had 20 points by the end of the third quarter. After three periods, the Hokies led 46-35 after a buzzer beater for the Cavaliers was waved off.

It was raining threes early in the fourth quarter, with Georgia Amoore and Aisha Sheppard draining triples for the Hokies and Carole Miller making one for the Cavaliers in the first minutes.

Virginia was able to get as close nine points on a layup by Eleah Parker and free throws from Taylor Valladay. Taylor Valladay was aggressive in driving the lane and drawing fouls all game and had 13 of UVA’s 17 free throw attempts.

However, foul trouble prevented the Hoos from getting any closer as Elizabeth Kitley and Aisha Sheppard responded and made six points from the line and Cayla King added a three pointer to push the lead to 61-47. The Cavaliers committed six offensive fouls, turnovers which turned out to be even more costly as they moved the Hokies into the bonus early in the fourth.

UVA managed to keep within striking distance until the final minutes, but Virginia Tech eventually pulled away for the 69-52 victory.

Taylor Valladay set a new career-high in scoring with 16 points and also added six rebounds and six assists to lead the Cavaliers. Although she was only 3-10 from the field, Valladay was 10-13 from the free throw line. Amandine Toi added 15 points and Eleah Parker had 12.

Not only did Elizabeth Kitley finish with 24 points, but she also added ten rebounds and six blocks in an all-around solid performance for the ACC Player of the Year candidate. Kayana Traylor had 17 points and Aisha Sheppard had 11 points for the Hokies. Virginia Tech is undefeated when they have three players score in double digits, so balance is key for the team.

Virginia has six games in the next 13 days due to lots of weather and COVID-related rescheduling. The next matchup will be on Thursday night in Chapel Hill against No. 20 North Carolina.

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