Women’s Basketball: Elizabeth Kitley, No. 9 Virginia Tech roll over UNC Greensboro
Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley, left, blocks a shot by UNC-Greensboro’s Isys Grady in the first half of an NCAA basketball game in Blacksburg, Va., on Monday.
UNC-Greensboro’s Khalis Cain (15) defends against Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley in the first half of an NCAA basketball game in Blacksburg, Va., on Monday.
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Elizabeth Kitley scored 31 points to lead No. 9 Virginia Tech to a 72-51 victory over UNC Greensboro on Monday.
Kitley connected on 13 of 22 from the floor and grabbed 10 rebounds to lift the Hokies (3-1) to their second consecutive win in a game in which Virginia Tech’s other two leaders — Georgia Amoore and Cayla King — struggled.
“I think you give UNCG credit,” Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks said. “They were the aggressors tonight. I thought they had us on our heels a lot, and if we’re going to be the team that we say we want to be, we have to learn how to come out and be the aggressor.
“We’re just trying to learn each other and just understand our tendencies and who can do what in certain situations. We’ll continue to get better, but I think that team’s going to win a lot of basketball games in their league. So, we’ll take it, and we’ll continue to grow as a group.”
Jayde Gamble scored a career-high 25 points to pace UNC Greensboro (3-2), which saw its three-game winning streak end. Gamble connected on 12 of 19 from the floor.
The Hokies led just 17-16 after the first quarter, but held the Spartans to just field goals in the second quarter. A 17-4 run in which Kitley scored 10 points enabled the Hokies to open a 14-point lead and they were never threatened again. Kitley scored 18 of her team’s 39 first-half points.
“I think, after this game, we’re definitely going to have to be more physical and not let other teams push us around and dictate where we’re going,” Kitley said. “We need to impose our will early.
“I also think a point of emphasis is going to be our start. We started slow, and we can’t afford to do that. We gave up too many points in the first quarter. We let them run their stuff too much and attack and get downhill too much. Other teams are going to take advantage of that.”
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Kamilla Cardoso had 23 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks as South Carolina shook off some poor shooting to rout South Dakota State.
The Gamecocks (4-0) played without their most reliable outside shooter in Oregon transfer Te-Hina Paopao, who has an ankle injury, and her absence showed.
Raven Johnson had a career-high 18 points, plus six assists and five steals. The 6-foot-7 Cardoso had her third double-double of the season and 19th of her career.
Brooklyn Meyer scored 19 points for the Jackrabbits (2-2), who were the preseason favorites to win the Summit League.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Aneesah Morrow and Flau’jae Johnson tied their season highs with 17 points apiece and LSU defeated Texas Southern while star forward Angel Reese missed her second straight game.
Hailey Van Lith scored a season-high 16 points for LSU (5-1), which has won five straight since its season-opening loss to then No. 20 Colorado, which has since moved up to third in the AP Top 25.
Freshman Mikayla Williams scored 14 points, reaching double figures in scoring for the fifth time in what was her sixth college game. Aalyah Del Rosario also added 14 points for LSU.
Daeja Holmes and Taniya Lawson each scored 11 points for Texas Southern, which was plagued by a season-high 35 turnovers that led to 48 LSU points.
NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Jacy Sheldon scored 20 points, Taylor Thierry had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Ohio State beat East Carolina in the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship.
Ohio State (3-1) will play Oklahoma State on Wednesday.
Rebeka Mikulasikova added 12 points and Cotie McMahon and Rikki Harris each had 11 for Ohio State, which was coming off back-to-back dominating home wins last week.
Synia Johnson scored eight of her 14 points in the second quarter for East Carolina (2-2). Amiya Joyner added 12 points and Danae McNeal, who was picked the AAC’s preseason player of the year, scored 10.
NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Marija Avlijas scored 11 points, Madison Scott added 10 points and Mississippi beat Michigan in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game.
The Rebels (5-1) held an opponent to less than 50 points for the third time this season.
Marquesha Davis and Snudda Collins each scored nine points for Mississippi. Scott was named the tournament MVP.
Laila Phelia led Michigan (4-1) with 21 points. She was 4 of 18 from the field but made 11 of 12 free throws. Jordan Hobbs had the second-most points for the Michigan starters with six. Cameron Williams had a team-high eight rebounds.
NASSAU, Bahamas – Sophmore Shay Ciezki scored a creer-high 27 points to lead Penn State past Oklahoma State in the opening game of the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship at the Baha Mar Convention Center.
It was the fifth straight victory for the undefeated Lady Lions.
Ciezki hit seven 3-point field goals in the game.
