Elizabeth Kitley and Georgia Amoore have achieved a lot during their time at Virginia Tech, but one of the few things they hadn't done is won a game at Louisville. This year, the No. 12 Hokies headed to No. 18 Louisville knowing that a win over the Cardinals would mean that they only needed to win two of their final three games to secure the #1 seed in the 2024 ACC Tournament.
Check one more thing off the to-do list for Kitley and Amoore after a dominant performance in the KFC Yum Center on Sunday afternoon.
No. 12 Virginia Tech beat No. 18 Louisville 86-70 for their ninth-straight victory to improve to 22-4 overall including 13-2 in the ACC while the Cardinals fell to 21-6 overall including 10-4 in ACC play. With the victory, Virginia Tech has one less conference loss than Syracuse and NC State with three conference games remaining for the Hokies and Orange, and four remaining for the Wolfpack. VT owns the tiebreaker over Syracuse and NC State, while at least one of those two will take another conference loss since they still play one more game against each other.
Virginia Tech for almost the entirety of this game with the Cardinals only briefly having a lead early in the first quarter. The Hokies also led by at least double-digits from the moment Matilda Ekh made her first three of the game with 9:40 in the second quarter till the final whistle, showing how dominant Tech's control of this game was from start to finish.
Part of that was because of the fact that the Hokies had one of their best shooting days of the year making 65.4% (34-52) of their shots including 43.5% (10-23) of their threes. Tech was constantly able to get the type of looks that they wanted for Kitley and Amoore while also getting their role players plenty of quality looks. Tech did have 14 turnovers in this game, which will need to be improved on, but their defense off those turnovers was solid as the Cardinals only have 11 points off turnovers.
Tech had only seven offensive rebounds compared to 13 for Louisville, but when you miss only 18 shots compared to 28 for the Cardinals and still outscore your opponent 9-4 in second chance points, it's clear who was the most efficient on the offensive glass. Add in the fact that the Hokies had a 36-30 advantage in the paint.
Elizabeth Kitley's case for a third ACC Player of the Year award continues to get stronger after another dominant performance with 26 points on 12-16 shooting from the field and 2-3 from the free-throw line plus 13 rebounds, two assists, and one block. Kitley continues to show why she's one of the country's elite player who can absolutely lead a team to a national title come March.
Georgia Amoore also continues to be one of the best guards in the country dazzling in this game with 23 points on an insanely efficient 9-11 shooting including 3-4 from three-point range plus 2-2 from the free-throw line. She had a double-double of her own as well with 10 assists plus four rebounds, making big play after big play to more than compensate for her six turnovers.
Matilda Ekh continues to be a strong third scoring option for the Hokies with 12 points on 5-7 shooting including 2-4 from three-point range plus one rebound. Meanwhile, Cayla King had one of her best games of the season with nine points on 3-6 shooting from three-point range five rebounds and four assists.
Olivia Summiel continues to do well in her role at the four especially on the glass having seven rebounds plus three points, three assists, and one steal. Carleigh Wenzel had a strong game off the bench with eight points, three rebounds, and one steal. Clara Strack had a solid game with two points, two rebounds, one assist, and one block while Carys Baker added three points in limited minutes.
Kiki Jefferson led Louisville with 19 points and three rebounds while Jayda Curry was effective off the bench with 13 points. Nyla Harris and Nina Rickards each had 10 points to give the Cardinals four in double figures.
Virginia Tech continues to show that they are not only the clear best team in the ACC, but they are also once again a legitimate national title contender. Outside of maybe South Carolina, there has been no team in the country playing at a higher level than the Hokies over the past month going on the road and picking up big win after big win at places like NC State, Louisville, and North Carolina.
The Hokies have figured out who they are as a team with the pieces they have clicking well together. Kenny Brooks also seems to be in supreme control of the rotations that he leans on for the Hokies, having a strong grasp on what his players and different lineups are capable of, and maximizing their effectiveness just as we saw last year.
Tech now is in the driver's seat to check off one of the few remaining things for Kitley and Amoore to achieve with the Hokies: an ACC Regular Season title. They get a week to rest up before Senior Day next Sunday against North Carolina, with the Hokies getting a well-earned national spotlight hosting College GameDay on Sunday morning leading up to the 2pm clash with the Tar Heels.
There are only a few things left for Liz Kitley and Georgia Amoore to achieve in Blacksburg that they haven't achieved yet in Blacksburg. Pick up a couple more ACC wins and the only thing that'll be left for Kitley and Amoore is to win a national championship.
