Kitley & Amoore Too Much for Virginia in 76-63 Loss at Virginia Tech
In her weekly press conference preceding Thursday's Commonwealth Clash, Coach Mox commented on the immense challenge facing her Virginia women's basketball team in attempting to defend Virginia Tech's offense. Between All-American center Elizabeth Kitley, one of the best point guards in the country in Georgia Amoore, and several capable three-point shooters, the Cavaliers were forced to play the same "pick your poison" game all of Virginia Tech's opponents have had to play this season.
Despite going punch for punch with the 17th-ranked Hokies for the entire first half, the Cavaliers eventually faltered in the third quarter as Virginia (10-11, 2-8 ACC) suffered a 76-63 loss to No. 17 Virginia Tech (17-4, 8-2 ACC) in the Commonwealth Clash on Thursday night at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg.
Already thin in the front court with the absence of fifth-year forward and the team's second-leading scorer Camryn Taylor, who missed her second-straight game with a knee injury, things worsened on that front for Virginia as London Clarkson scored the first basket of the game but was then called for two quick personal fouls in the first two minutes of the game.
Freshman Edessa Noyan came in to replace Clarkson and did an admirable job guarding Elizabeth Kitley, but the 6'6" center and two-time ACC Player of the Year would not be contained. Kitley recorded 10 points and six rebounds in the first quarter alone and the space freed up by the amount of attention given to her by the UVA defense led to several open threes for the Hokies, including two by Matilda Ekh on second-chance opportunities.
Fortunately for the Cavaliers, Kymora Johnson continued her run of brilliant play and scored 12 points in the first quarter, including a pair of threes and a one-footed runner that beat the buzzer and cut the Virginia Tech lead to 21-18 at the end of the opening period.
Virginia's issues on the defensive glass worsened in the second quarter, as Virginia Tech continued to capitalize on second-chance opportunities, scoring 15 second-chance points on eight offensive rebounds in the first half. Noyan and company did their best to limit Kitley's opportunities in the post, but the Hokies have nailed the process of putting Kitley in position to score down to a science and she converted several times on mid-range jumpers.
UVA freshman Olivia McGhee suffered a fluke injury in the second quarter, colliding with Paris Clark while trying to get back on defense and injuring her ankle. McGhee did not return to the game.
Virginia trailed by as many as 10 in the second quarter, but the Cavaliers worked their way back into the game and a transition three from Kaydan Lawson cut the deficit back down to four. UVA ultimately ended the first half trailing 46-41, which was pretty good for the Cavaliers considering how well the Hokies executed on the offensive end of the floor.
Virginia couldn't quite solve that problem of trying to defend Elizabeth Kitley, Georgia Amoore, and the host of dangerous perimeter shooters surrounding them. The Hokies had it both ways in the first half, making six threes and getting 20 points from Kitley on 9/13 shooting. Amoore had a near double-double in the first half with 10 points and nine assists
Kymora Johnson had 15 points in the first half and Paris Clark scored eight. Edessa Noyan had seven points and played quality defense, or else Kitley might have had 30 in the first half. It was a decent half for Virginia offensively, shooting 41.2% from the floor, making four threes, and going 9/9 from the free throw line to keep the game within reach down only five at halftime.
In most of Virginia's losses this season, there has been one quarter of terrible basketball that dooms the Cavaliers to their eventual defeat. That was the case yet again on Thursday night as UVA failed to hold serve on the offensive end in the third quarter. Virginia Tech scored the first six points of the second half and opened the third quarter on a 14-2 run. A three-pointer from Kymora Johnson ended a near five-minute scoring drought, but the Cavaliers still made only two of their 14 field goal attempts and were outscored 17-5 in the period. That was enough for the Hokies to blow the game wide-open, taking a commanding 63-46 to the fourth.
What made that disastrous third quarter even more frustrating for the Cavaliers was that they largely kept up with the Hokies in the other three quarters of the game, losing the first quarter by three points, the second by two, and the fourth by four. Virginia Tech built a lead as large as 19, but UVA started to climb back into the game thanks to eight fourth-quarter points from Paris Clark.
Virginia had some success using a full-court press to get the Hokies out of a rhythm. But the deficit was too big and Georgia Amoore and Elizabeth Kitley made sure there was no dramatic comeback on this night.
Read Val's Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.
Kitley finished with a fantastic 33-point, 18-rebound double-double, while Amoore also had a double-double with 20 points and 14 assists. Ekh joined them in double figures with 13 points and those three players accounted for 66 of Virginia Tech's 76 points.
Kymora Johnson eclipsed 20 points for the third time in the last four games, scoring 22 points and dishing out three assists and once again proving that she can play with the best guards in the ACC already as a freshman. Paris Clark had 18 points and eight rebounds. Edessa Noyan set a new career-high with nine points on 3/5 shooting and gave Virginia a big lift with Taylor out and Clarkson in foul trouble.
Virginia Tech dominated the rebounding battle 47-31 and scored 19 second-chance points on 17 offensive rebounds. Virginia kept its turnover problem under control with only nine turnovers, but perhaps at the expense of transition opportunities, as the Cavaliers scored only two fastbreak points.
This was the ninth time Virginia has faced a ranked opponent this season, most of any team in the country. The Cavaliers had defeated their last two ranked foes, but couldn't knock off the Hokies to extend that streak to three.
Virginia Tech earned half a point in the 2023-2024 Commonwealth Clash, which Virginia now leads 5.5-1.5. The other half a point for women's basketball will be determined when these two teams meet again in Charlottesville in the regular season finale on Sunday, March 3rd.
Up next, Virginia returns home to host Clemson on Sunday at John Paul Jones Arena. Tipoff is set for 4pm on the ACC Network.
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