Cayla King's 29 points leads hokies past pitt

Topher Wagner

December 11, 2020

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech defeated Pittsburgh 88-71 on Thursday night behind a career day from sophomore Cayla King, who put up 29 points, including an impressive seven three-pointers.

Despite the large margin of victory, the Panthers had control for much of this game, leading by eight points at halftime. Virginia Tech overcame a slow start to rally back in the second half, tying the game at 63 after the third quarter before dominating the final ten minutes en route to a 17-point victory.

“We wanted to get this first ACC win,” King said after her impressive performance, in which she set a new career high in points. “It’s definitely encouraging and we just know that we still have to get better because there’s another ACC game next week.”

Elizabeth Kitley had a slow start for the Hokies as Pittsburgh center Rita Igbokwe and the rest of the Panthers ran a very tight defense in the paint. Pitt forced constant double teams and minimized the star center’s offensive output. However, down the stretch, Kitley finished strong with 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists, one rebound shy of her sixth consecutive double-double.

The third quarter flipped the game on its head when Virginia Tech started its comeback. Pittsburgh went toe to toe with the Hokies as the lead see-sawed back and forth seemingly every possession.

The Panthers’ top scorer, Jayla Everett, was everywhere, hitting big shot after big shot in the back and forth affair. Everett finished with 21 points on the night, including six three-pointers.

While the Hokies played well on defense the first couple weeks of the season, their opponents were able to expose them from beyond the arc at times. That was a common theme against Pittsburgh.

The Panthers' offense was on fire to start the contest, shooting five of five from three-point land and 85% in total from the field in the first quarter. Virginia Tech had no answers for Everett, as the star guard had 11 points and three three-pointers in the opening frame before the Hokies defense started to settle in.

After the offensive explosion, the Panthers allowed a 16-2 run in the first four minutes of the third quarter and the Hokies never looked back. Virginia Tech head coach Kenny Brooks attributed some second half defensive adjustments and fantastic execution by his players for this turn around.

“We felt like we took a really good shot from them in the first half,” Brooks said. “You know they shot 75% from the floor and we were the culprits of some of that, but they made their shots. In the second half, we made some adjustments, we started hedging on some screens. The kids did a really good job of rotating so they couldn’t capitalize on that. It took them out of rhythm and really allowed us to capture the lead.”

There was a scary moment for the Hokies during their comeback effort. With Virginia Tech trailing 48-40 with less than a minute left in the first half, star guard Aisha Sheppard had a hard collision with Pittsburgh’s Dayshanette Harris and tweaked her back. After being down on the court for several minutes, she walked off under her own power in noticeable pain.

While her teammates waited with baited breath, it turned out that a little scuffle wouldn’t deter Sheppard the rest of the way, as she quickly returned in the second half and finished out the game with 17 points and three steals.

“I went for the ball and the other girl was also trying to get it,” Sheppard said postgame. “She actually kneed me in the back, so it’s pretty tight right now, but I’m glad that we have a week off and I can get some treatment in.”

As Pittsburgh falls to 2-2 on the season, they also reach an unenviable mark of 0-8 in ACC openers since joining the conference.

Up next, the undefeated Hokies travel to South Bend to face Notre Dame in their first road game of the season, while the Panthers will try to regroup in a home matchup against Clemson on Saturday night.