BLACKSBURG – On the day after the start of the 2020-21 season, the Virginia Tech women's basketball program has a lot to be thankful for - not just an 85-64 victory over Richmond but the opportunity to play, albeit with new guidelines for the arena and a group of student-athletes who have bought in to what has been asked of them both on and off of the court.
"These kids come out, they love being a Hokie, they love representing Virginia Tech, they love each other and it's very difficult times that they're going through," Coach Brooks remarked postgame. "They're out here playing basketball in masks. They can't do the things they normally do as 18 to 22-year-old kids. It's been a lot of fun just working with them every day and watching them grow."
Tech trotted out three first-time starters Wednesday and they all answered the call with aplomb. Handling the point was true freshman Georgia Amoore who led all scorers in the game with 19 points and added four assists. In the post at power forward, Asiah Jones saw her first action as a Hokie and tallied 17 points and five boards. On the wing, guard Cayla King produced a career-best 11 points connecting on three 3-pointers.
"I liked what I saw," Brooks said in summary of the first competitive outing since March. "A lot of the kids stepped up and did wonderful things for us during the course of the game. We have a lot of things to work on but we're a totally different style of basketball team now."
•Amoore's debut a long time coming
A freshman from halfway across the globe in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, Amoore joined the Hokies in the spring of 2020 and was immediately eligible but the Hokies waited for the right moment to put her talent on display. Fortunately for Hokie Nation, that moment was Wednesday against Richmond.
"Once I really got going it felt great," Amoore said after her first competitive 5 on 5 game in over a year. "I had options everywhere on the court and it felt smooth. It's always scary going into the first game, you don't know what to expect especially when you play a team you haven't played before but I think overall it went really well."
After an admittedly slow start, she came alive down the stretch and scored 19 on 7 of 11 shooting. She canned four threes on the afternoon.
"There was a substation that happened and Coach Brooks was like 'Just play,' she said. "I was so hesitant and the mistakes I was making was because I was trying to play perfect and once I get in my rhythm and just play (positive plays) just comes."
Brooks was visibly pleased at her debut, saying of Amoore, "We know she is going to make some mistakes but you also saw what she is capable of doing and she come out in her debut and scores 19 points and it just goes to show you her talent. She's a wonderful kid, a great kid and Hokie Nation is going to fall in love with her because her personality is as good as her game. She's a great representation for us in what we want, what we need and I'm very excited about what she is going to be able to do in the future."
•Jones provides one-two punch on the interior
Similarly to Amoore, redshirt senior forward Asiah Jones was forced to sit out last season after transferring from USC. She used that time to work on her game and learn new moves, many of which were on display at Cassell Coliseum against the Spiders.
"Definitely last year helped me so much," she said in the postgame presser. "Half of the things that I was doing today, I wasn't even comfortable and confident enough to do it when I first got to Virginia Tech. I give a lot of the credit to all of the work that I put in with the coaches last year."
Jones took 14 shots in the season opener and ended up with 17 points. She added five rebounds, two assists and a block. After her first competitive game in some time, she too was thankful to be out on the floor.
"It felt really good to be out there playing and I'm really happy we got out with a win," Jones said. "That's the most important part. It feels good to have an impact and to be able to play really hard and play well for my team."
In tandem with Elizabeth Kitley, the Hokies' starting frontcourt scored 32 points and corralled 22 rebounds.
•Who else will score the basketball?
We knew what to expect out of Kitley and Aisha Sheppard whose 15 first half points led the team heading into the locker room. Amoore and Jones had fine outings, combining for 36 but Tech will still need steady production from the rest of its roster.
Cayla King may have taken a step in her development Wednesday, registering a career-high 11 points in 24 minutes on the floor.
We'll see what this group of Hokies can do next time out on the floor, Saturday afternoon against Liberty.
