Roanoke

Kitley scores 31 points as No. 9 Virginia Tech women beat UNC Greensboro

J.Ramirez3 months ago

BLACKSBURG — Only one player scored in double figures for the Virginia Tech women’s basketball team Monday.

But that one player was Elizabeth Kitley. And she scored 31 points.

The 6-foot-6 center helped the ninth-ranked Hokies win their final home game of the month as Tech defeated UNC Greensboro 72-51 at Cassell Coliseum.

It was the sixth time Kitley scored at least 30 points in her five Tech seasons, including her school-record 42-point outing against Florida Gulf Coast in the 2022 NCAA tournament.

Kitley also grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots in 33 minutes Monday.

“We’re blessed. I just don’t want anyone to take her greatness for granted,” Tech coach Kenny Brooks said. “She was really the only one that played with the intensity, the passion, the focus that we need.”

Kitley, who sat for the final 3:12 of the game, finished three points shy of tying the late Renee Dennis’ Tech record for the most points in a home game.

“We were just taking what they were giving us because they were not trying to front too hard, [were] playing behind me,” Kitley said. “We’ll try to get the ball inside when that happens.

“From the first play when we got it inside and I could feel the space and that people weren’t coming, I knew that we would keep running stuff to get it inside. ... They did a really good job of hitting me in my spots and making good passes.”

Kitley was 13 of 22 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.

“I missed too many ... easy shots,” she said.

The Hokies (3-1) won even though they were just 5 of 20 from 3-point range.

“What we proved tonight is that we don’t have to live and die by the 3-point shot because we have such stellar inside play with the way Liz played,” Brooks said.

The Hokies’ other star, point guard Georgia Amoore, had a poor shooting night.

Amoore was 4 of 15 from the field, including 1 of 8 from 3-point territory. She missed her first eight shots from the field.

“All of her [missed] shots were back rim, a little bit to the side,” Brooks said. “I told her, ‘Keep shooting.’”

Amoore had nine points and eight assists.

“She has to facilitate. ... She’s like the babysitter. When the younger players are on the floor, she has to take care of them. And I didn’t think she did a good job of that tonight,” Brooks said.

The Hokies led just 17-16 after the first quarter.

But Tech opened the second quarter on a 17-4 run to build a 34-20 lead. Kitley had 10 points in the run. Tech had that 14-point lead even though Amoore was 0 of 8 from the field at that point.

Tech, which was playing UNCG (3-2) for the first time since 2008, led the entire second half.

“We really didn’t get a flow going the whole night and part of it is my fault,” Brooks said. “Just trying to figure out lineups.”

After shooting just 37.5% from the field in the first quarter, Tech shot 50% from the field in each of the final three quarters.

“We didn’t play as energetic as we could because some of the shots weren’t falling. But I think that’s a lesson learned,” Brooks said.

Next up for Tech is the Cayman Islands Classic. Tech will play 2023 WNIT champ Kansas (2-1) on Friday and 2023 WNIT participant Tulane (3-1) on Saturday.

“This was a good game to have before we went and played Kansas because these girls were athletic, a lot of downhill drivers, and we’ll probably see that in our next game,” Kitley said. “We’re going to have to be physical because I’m sure Kansas is going to be physical with us.”

After returning to the United States, Tech will visit fellow 2023 Final Four participant LSU on Nov. 30.

“After this [UNCG] game, we’re definitely going to have to be more physical and not let other teams push us around or dictate where we’re going. That’s what LSU is going to try to do, so we do have two more games to try and figure that out and impose our will early,” Kitley said.

“We can’t come out flat against Kansas, we can’t come out flat against Tulane, let alone LSU. So I think a point of emphasis is also going to be our start. I think we started slow [Monday] and we can’t afford to do that. ... We gave up too many points in the first quarter.”

Jayde Gamble had 25 points for the Spartans, who shot just 35% from the field. UNCG made only one 3-pointer.

Mark Berman (540) 981-3125

Women's Basketball

No. 9 Va. Tech 72

UNC Greensboro 51

Next game

Va. Tech

vs. Kansas

in Cayman Islands

Va. Tech 72, UNCG 51

UNC GREENSBORO (3-2)

Cain 2-3 0-0 4, Gamble 12-19 0-0 25, Grady 0-7 2-2 2, Howard 1-5 1-2 3, Khalfani 4-12 0-0 8, Hastings 0-0 0-0 0, Boyle 0-1 0-0 0, Clark-Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, N'Diaye 1-2 0-0 2, Powell 1-6 3-4 5, Simpson 0-5 2-2 2, Totals 21-60 8-10 51

VIRGINIA TECH (3-1)

Micheaux 4-8 0-0 8, Kitley 13-22 5-6 31, Amoore 4-15 0-0 9, Ekh 2-4 4-4 9, King 1-5 0-0 3, Baker 2-3 0-0 5, Strack 1-2 0-0 2, Summiel 0-0 0-0 0, Wenzel 2-3 0-0 5, Totals 29-62 9-10 72

UNC-Greensboro 16 9 16 10 — 51

Virginia Tech 17 22 17 16 — 72

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