Kenny Brooks and the Virginia Tech only jumped one spot in last week's AP top 25 which was surprising given how they went on the road to beat a quality Auburn team. The Hokies had a chance to make a positive pre-Christmas impression against Radford this week while also giving voters that didn't adjust their rankings after the Sunday evening win over Auburn to rethink their rankings.
Sure enough, the Hokies did what they needed to and were rewarded in the polls.
Virginia Tech 71, Radford 52
Virginia Tech took care of business in their one game on the week before Christmas as the Hokies beat the Highlanders 71-52 in a game in which Kenny Brooks got some of his backups more playing time than normal and in which the Hokies led by 28 going into the fourth quarter. Turnovers were important again as Virginia Tech only had 11 turnovers and had 11 steals while Radford had 19 turnovers and only 7 steals. Chanette Hicks was once again the star for the Hokies as she had 18 points, 8 steals, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in what was another strong game from the Hokies' sophomore point guard. Sidney Cook and Regan Magarity dominated the post and had strong games with Cook having 15 points and 10 rebounds while Magarity had 15 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block. Sami Hill had 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists while Vanessa Panousis had 5 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists to round out the starting 5. Tara Nahodil was able to get some serious playing time with 2 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 12 minutes while Kendyl Brooks was the leading scorer that came off the bench with 6 points plus 1 block and 1 rebound. The Hokies did what they needed to against Radford and combined with voters having a full week to take in the Sunday night win over Auburn, the Hokies reaped the benefits in the polls.VT Jumps to 19th in the AP Poll
https://twitter.com/techlunchpaild/status/813455316851507200 Virginia Tech seemed to get the boost from their Sunday evening win over Auburn more this week then last week along with their 12-0 record pushing them up in the polls even higher as the Hokies climbed from 23rd to 19th this week as they have only game left against Delaware State on Friday before the start of ACC play. The Hokies have established themselves as one of the top teams in the ACC and are playing on a very high level in which there is a chance they could even be competing for a top 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and get the chance to play 2 home games at the beginning of the NCAA Tournament in what would be a truly incredible first season in the Kenny Brooks era. Kenny Brooks and the Hokies have been one of the biggest surprises in women's college basketball and are playing like a team that has seriously benefited from having a coaching change while also having a very bright future with a Hokies' team full of talent led by one of the best young players in the country in point guard Chanette Hicks and one of America's top frontcourt duos in Sidney Cook and Regan Magarity.Stay up with The Tech Lunch Pail for the latest on the Hokies via Facebook and Twitter plus subscribe to our email updates.
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