BLACKSBURG, VA – The Virginia Tech women's basketball team connected on four of their first five 3-pointers and got out to an 18-6 lead and hit clutch shots late in the game to secure its fifth consecutive ACC victory, 76-68 over Syracuse, a program record. The Hokies now stand at 12-7 (7-7) with two regular season games to play and the Orange fell to 11-6 (8-6).
"Really big win for us in so many different ways," Kenny Brooks stated postgame. "The first half I thought they were phenomenal. We executed, we got the ball where we wanted to and we controlled the narrative of how the game is going to be. All-in-all a great game, I think our kids did a tremendous job and we had a lot of people step up. Aisha Sheppard was great, 23 points, I thought Georgia Amoore was phenomenal. She controlled the tempo, she did everything for us."
Tech began the game with hot shooting, something that continued through halftime where the team held a 22-point advantage, the largest lead in any game this season.
Syracuse would tighten the game in the second half, utilizing a trap on defense and scoring a total of 15 points in transition. The Orange were led by Tiana Mangakahia who scored 18 points and dished out seven assists in the game.
The Orange brought the lead down to nine multiple times but could get no closer before the final seconds.
The Hokies saw four players reach double figures led by Sheppard's 23, Kitley scored 18, Amoore had 14 and Cayla King added 14 as well.
For reigning ACC Freshman of the Week Amoore, it was her third straight game with 13 or more points and she had four rebounds and five assists.
GAME NOTES
•Virginia Tech is now 7-8 against the Orange.
•Kenny Brooks' record moves to 98-56 at Virginia Tech and 435-178 in his career.
•Tech is 11-6 all-time on February 21 and 8-3 in conference games.
•The starting lineup of Georgia Amoore, Aisha Sheppard, Cayla King, Azana Baines and Elizabeth Kitley accounted for 69 points.
•The Hokies have won five consecutive ACC games for the first time in the program's history after joining the conference in 2004.
NEXT TIME ON THE COURT
•The Hokies will travel to Clemson, South Carolina to take on the Tigers on Thursday, February 25 at 6 p.m. That game will be broadcast on ACCN.
•Tech's final regular season game is slated for Sunday, February 28 at home against the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Hokies and Heels have already met twice, with Tech winning both games by an average of 8.0 ppg. Gallery: (2-21-2021) 2020 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL VS. SYRACUSE
