It is rare when a team wins the offensive rebound battle by a margin of 15. It is even rarer when the team that got dominated on the glass comes away with a win anyway.
That was the situation for the Virginia Tech Hokies (13-5), who defeated the streaking Louisville Cardinals (13-6) 70-65, despite losing the rebounding battle 39-25 including a 17-2 deficit in offensive rebounds.
It was a special night in Cassell Coliseum as Elizabeth Kitley, the greatest player in program history, was honored with a jersey retirement and a ceremony to go with it. The Hokies felt that event gave the Hokies a little extra energy down the stretch of this game.
“I’m just so thrilled and proud of my team today,” Virginia Tech head coach Megan Duffy said following the game. “I think it started off with our celebration of Lix Kitley (and) her jersey retirement. I can’t say enough of this crowd and the way they gave us energy for the 40 minutes.”
Behind a ruckus, sold out home crowd, reminiscent of the glory days for Virginia Tech Women’s Basketball from the last few seasons, the Hokies came out guns blazing, jumping out to a 16-6 lead just over seven minutes into the game.
While Virginia Tech cooled off in the fourth quarter, the Hokies put on an impressive shooting display, knocking down about 66% of their shots through three quarters, including a scorching 82% in the third quarter, to build a lead as great as 13.
A 9-0 Louisville run from 4:20 to 1:20 in the fourth quarter cut the Hokies' once comfortable lead to just one point. However, Virginia Tech closed the game out with clutch free-throw shooting (7/8 in the last 1:20) and picked up another big ACC victory.
Virginia Tech had four players reach double figures, including Lani White (18 points) and impressive freshman Kayl Petersen (12 points) who went 5/6 from the floor in her 20 minutes off the bench. Petersen looked the best she’s been in weeks and always seemed to knock down timely shots.
“Big shots like that are momentum movers for herself and us as a team,” junior guard Lani White said of Petersen’s great play.
Despite the hot shooting and well-rounded offensive effort, Virginia Tech had to overcome multiple pitfalls that could have cost them the game. Beyond an obvious advantage on the glass, the Cardinals also had success turning the Hokies over; particularly early on in the game.
Louisville set up full court and half court traps after every make, and played hedging aggressive defense in the half court set. The Hokies turned it over 14 times and registered an assist on only 12 of their field goals. Virginia Tech has had a negative assist/turnover ratio in all five losses this season, but they were able to pull this one out due to improved ball security in crunch time.
“Handling their pressure was the difference in winning this game,” Duffy said.
Despite the disappointing loss to Virginia, the Hokies are clearly improving and are far ahead of schedule in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year.
“We’re working towards a better version of ourselves everyday,” Duffy said.
Virginia Tech, which is currently in 9th place in the ACC at 4-3 in conference games, will look to continue rolling as they travel to Pittsburgh at 6 p.m. on January 23 to take on the struggling Panthers (9-11) who boast just one ACC victory.
