BLACKSBURG – In the teams' second meeting in four days, Virginia Tech comfortably replicated the result from Sunday afternoon in Blacksburg, defeating Wake Forest 85-63 Wednesday afternoon in the ACC Tournament's First Round.
The win moves the Hokies to 20-10 on the season, while the Demon Deacons will end their season at 10-20.
"Obviously this time of the year it's survive and advance, but I thought our kids did a little bit more than that," head coach Kenny Brooks commented postgame. "I thought we really set the tone in the first quarter, then continued that in the second quarter."
Tech jumped out to a 27-10 lead after 10 minutes, thanks in large part to the aggressive play of First Team All-ACC guard Taylor Emery. The Tampa, Florida native scored Tech's first seven points and got off to a hot start with 12 in the first quarter setting the tone for the Hokies to take a big lead, one they would never relinquish.
The Hokies used a 10-0 run to tie the Deacons and regain the lead and then used another 10- stretch to finish the first quarter up 27-10.
That wouldn't be the only run of the day as the squad scored nine straight later in the second with buckets by Aisha Sheppard, Dara Mabrey and Magarity.
Magarity, who was named a Second Team All-Conference performer Tuesday, recorded another double-double her 21stwith 22 points and 17 rebounds. The redshirt senior shot a high percentage, 7 of 12 and converted 7 of 8 from the free throw line.
Emery, who looked like she could break her own team record for points in an ACC Tournament game, finished with 26, which included three 3-pointers.
Tech got a major contribution from sophomore Trinity Baptiste who recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Baptsite, who does much of her work on the offensive glass, pulled down five offensive rebounds which lead to a three-point play on one occasion and an easy bucket on another.
"I thought we had a really good balance to us," Brooks said. "I thought the seniors did a tremendous job of getting us going. Taylor had a great bounce, got us going with some early shots. Regan did a tremendous job on the boards but also scoring. And they really set the tone. I think both of them had 17 points at the half. And then it just kind of propelled us into the second half."
The Hokies shared the ball extremely well, making the extra pass to the player in the corner on numerous occasions. At the end of the day, Tech racked up 19 assists on 28 made field goals.
(3/6/2019) 2019 ACC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FIRST ROUND
Forward Alexis Jean had a season best nine points thanks to 3 of 4 shooting from beyond the arc. As a team, Tech made 11 of 27 attempts from distance.
Wake Forest, the 15-seed shot just 37 percent from the field and missed 11 free throws on the afternoon. The Deacons were led by 18 points and 12 rebounds from Alex Sharp. Three other players also tallied double figure scoring totals; Ivana Raca (14), Maya Banks (13) and Gina Conti (12).
Inside the box score:
• Tech hit 11 3-pointers in the game, 16thgame this season where the squad reached double digits in that category.
• The 55 points in the first half is the second highest tally this season
• For the second consecutive game, Tech held an edge on the glass, this time a wide one, outrebounding the Deacons 49-34. Kendyl Brooks tied a career best with six boards.
Game Notes:
• The win, Tech's 20th, marks the third consecutive season that the Hokies have reached that threshold, all under Kenny Brooks.
• In his career, Brooks has recorded 20 or more wins in 14 consecutive seasons, dating back to his time at JMU where he is the program's all-time winningest coach.
• The three-year stretch is the first of its kind in Blacksburg since a seven-season run that ended in 2003-04.
Welcome to the 4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣club @CoachBrooksVT🤩#Hokies🦃pic.twitter.com/h4va5gK1Qg
— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) March 6, 2019
What's next:
The Hokies advance to the Second Round of the ACC Tournament to face the seven seed, the Clemson Tigers.
In the regular season matchup, the Hokies held a lead in the fourth quarter before the Tigers took advantage of their size after forward Regan Magarity fouled out with over three minutes to go. Clemson took it 73-66. Magarity led the Hokies that game on Feb. 26 with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Clemson is led by ACC Coach of the Year Amanda Butler and a pair of All-Defensive team guards, senior Danielle Edwards and grad student Simone Westbrook.
Tipoff from the Greensboro Coliseum is set 6 p.m. and can be seen on Regional Sports Networks.