At 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 4th, the Virginia Tech women’s basketball team travels to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs in Stegeman Coliseum for the ACC-SEC challenge. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
The Virginia Tech Hokies (6-2) are coming off a 76-65 loss at the hands of the 23rd ranked Michigan Wolverines at the Fort Myers Tip-Off, while the Georgia Bulldogs (5-4) are coming off a shocking 76-74 overtime loss to Hampton.
The Hokies’ strong start to the season lands them at #54 in the first NET rankings of the year, which was just released on December 2. Georgia, meanwhile, comes in at just #156, following their bad home loss against Hampton and the lack of a signature win to start the season.
Based on Georgia’s 12-18 campaign a year ago and their shaky start to this season, the Hokies head into this power conference matchup favored to walk away with a win. With that being said, here are some keys to the game that will likely decide the winner.
Keys to the Game
Rose Micheaux staying out of foul trouble
There has been one consistent factor in the Hokies’ two losses: Rose Micheaux has picked up four fouls and can only stay on the court for about 20 minutes due to foul trouble.
Micheaux has been having the best season of her career, averaging about 14 points and nine rebounds per game, including her performance against Elon in which she recorded just the second triple double in Virginia Tech’s program history. Especially against strong opponents, her ability to fight for rebounds and get easy points around the basket is vital to a team that is mostly undersized.
As Tech faces another power conference team in Georgia, Micheaux has to find a way to stay out of foul trouble and remain on the floor, because the Hokies are only the best version of themselves when she is out there.
Turnover Margin
Perhaps Georgia’s biggest struggle through nine games has been their ability to take care of the basketball. They are averaging almost 19 turnovers per game compared to below 13 assists. Only 15 teams in the country have recorded more turnovers than the Bulldogs have this season.
This problem was taken to an extreme against Hampton, where Georgia coughed it up 32 times in their two point loss. In fact, Georgia has lost the turnover battle in all four games they have lost. For a team that doesn’t have particularly great shooting (40.8% shooting), it is vital that the Bulldogs get a shot up every possession they have.
The Hokies, under Megan Duffy’s new scheme, are pesty defenders who are going to play aggressive in the half court set. The Bulldogs have to be ready for this or else they may get embarrassed on Wednesday evening.
Matchup of the Game: Avia Asinger vs Carleigh Wenzel
Avia Asinger is the Bulldogs’ assist leader, but she also paces them in turnovers, averaging over four per game. Against Hampton she gave it away six times, and was one of four players with at least five turnovers for Georgia. As the lead guard, it will be up to Asinger to make sure Georgia’s offense runs smoothly and starts taking care of the basketball.
She will likely be going up against Calreigh Wenzel, the Hokies leading scorer, for much of the game. Despite leading Tech in scoring, Wenzel has shot just over 20% over the last three games, so she’ll be looking to get back on track against Georgia.
Prediction: Virginia Tech 75, Georgia 59
Despite struggling away from their home court so far this season, the Hokies’ only losses are against two teams that are now in the AP top 25. Georgia, on the other hand, has rough losses to teams like Hampton and Georgia State. While the Bulldogs defense is formidable, Samyha Suffren and Virginia Tech’s other disrupting defenders will force enough turnovers to get out in transition and run. Rose Micheaux will have her way in the paint with a 15+ point double-double and the Hokies will run away to a victory in Athens.
