BLACKSBURG – A season ago, the Virginia Tech women's basketball program had to wait until the end of January to experience a league victory, on the eighth try. The wait was substantially shorter this time around as the Hokies defeated UNC 76-70 at home Sunday afternoon.
"It was a really good win and you can look at it a lot and I'm sure you have asked me – last year we started 0-7 what that meant and how did it affect us," head coach Kenny Brook stated postgame. "I'm not going to sit here and lie, it is a thought you have when you start off 0-2."
After a tough opening week in the league against two top 10 opponents on the road, Tech returned to the friendly confines of Carilion Clinic Court at Cassell Coliseum for the first time since December 8 Sunday where they remain unbeaten at 7-0 on the season.
"I think it started with our defense," Brooks said of the recipe for building a lead on the Tar Heels. "We made a couple of adjustments defensively, got them out of whack. We were able to get stops, get out and run and we were able to capitalize on it and build a lead."
Of course, shooting 52% through the first three quarters tends to help too, which the Hokies did along with knocking down eight triples in the game which has become so customary of a Kenny Brooks coached team in Blacksburg. Tech's 121 3's this season are second in the conference and the team's .390 shooting percentage from distance leads the ACC.
Once again Aisha Sheppard was the catalyst, making an early 3 and she finished the game with four. Her 12 in a two-game span are the most by a Hokie in program history. But during a span in the first half when Sheppard headed to the bench, it was junior forward Trinity Baptiste who stepped up.
"I think she just got loose a little bit," Brooks commented on Baptiste. "She got the ball in our comfort zone and she went to work a couple times and knocked down shots. We need her production and I thought she was tremendous especially in the first half today."
Baptiste finished the game with 16 points and just a rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards. She was efficient too, going 7 of 15 from the floor and only turning the ball over once in 28 minutes on the floor.
Dara Mabrey contributed 15 points, Sheppard finished with 16 and point guard Taja Cole added nine points and nine assists in the win.
"I thought we got good production from a lot of different people at times and we need that to be more consistent throughout the basketball game in order for us to be one of the top tier teams in this league," Brooks said postgame.
Tech sits at 1-2 in the league ahead of Thursday's contest vs. Pitt at Cassell Coliseum. Tipoff for the game is set for 7 p.m. and can be seen on ACC Network Extra.
Last season the Hokies earned a 74-58 victory over Pitt on the road Taylor Emery led all scorers with 24 points in the game and Dara Mabrey had 22 on 7 of 9 shooting. She would go on to win ACC Freshman of the Week in part because of that performance. The Hokies are 9-5 all-time against the Panthers and 4-3 since both teams joined the ACC.
When asked about the Panthers, Kenny Brooks had this to say:
On initial scouting of Pitt:
"You know what, I was able to watch Pitt because they just played North Carolina a couple days ago. Lance [White], they are a lot better than they were last year. They are very unorthodox, they really make you play ugly. They are going to run at you, they might have two people on the ball, they might not have anybody. I'm still learning that zone that he's running but we know that it's going to be a fight because they play hard, they play extremely hard and regardless of if they are playing well or not, they are going to keep coming after you so we're going to have to keep our focus and lock in. It's going to be a tough fight for us to win."
The Hokies also took time to recognize one of their biggest supporters 12-year old Dani Jo Hearl from Mount Airy, North Carolina who first fell in love with the Hokies three years ago at a basketball camp for kids with disabilities. Sunday afternoon the program invited her along with the other members of her family to the court for a special recognition.
You're awesome, Dani Jo 🦃🧡‼️
— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) January 6, 2020
We're so thankful for you and your family's support.#GoHokies #StrongTogether https://t.co/gIwUzCeBk1
Gallery: (1/5/2020) 2020 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL vs. UNC