Hokies Lose fourth straight game at Georgia Tech

Jay Winters

January 10, 2021

ATLANTA, Ga. — On an inbound pass with the game tied at 54, Virginia Tech guard Georgia Amoore fouled Lorela Cubaj with three seconds left to put her on the line. The Georgia Tech forward stood at the charity stripe in a situation that neither she or the Yellow Jackets should have been in.

Cubaj, a 54% free throw shooter on the year, hit both and left the Hokies a mere two seconds to go the length of the court and score.

With two teammates pressed by defenders near midcourt and another on the Hokies’ end of the floor, Liz Kitley tossed a pass to Amoore who was running across the baseline. As she caught Kitley’s pass, Amoore turned to the sideline and raced to the middle of the floor while the clock dwindled down.

From the time she received the pass, she took three dribbles, extended both of her arms and launched a half court prayer as the LED lights on the backboard lit up. The ball sailed long, missing the rim and slamming off the backboard.

“It was miscommunication,” head coach Kenny Brooks said of Amoore’s foul. “They weren’t supposed to switch and they did, and I have no idea where she came from and why she was on her.”

For a second straight game, Virginia Tech was on the wrong end of a nail biting ending, and was dealt its fourth straight loss at the hands of Georgia Tech, 56-54.

The battle of the Techs was almost identical to last year’s matchup: a low scoring, tightly played game that went to overtime with the score tied at 55 before the Hokies pulled out a 64-61 win.

Cubaj, who is the only other ACC player to average a double-double besides Kitley, tallied 10 points and 13 rebounds by the end of the game.

Along with Cubaj, Georgia Tech’s leading scorer on the season, guard Lotta-Maj Lahtinen, led the Yellow Jackets with 17 points while guard Kierra Fletcher added 14.

Fifty four points is the lowest scored by Virginia Tech since last year’s game against Rice, a 54-45 win, and was Tech’s worst shooting performance of the season, shooting 33% from the field.

Part of the lack of production for the Hokies had to do with foul trouble, as both Kitley and Aisha Sheppard saw significant time on the bench in the second and third quarters.

“In the second quarter, we were just trying to get to halftime, and I thought we got some timely baskets,” Brooks said. “I think when Shepp and Liz came back in the game in the fourth, they were playing very tentatively, and as a result they [Georgia Tech] were able to go on a 6-0 run to cut it to four, and it was because of our lack of aggression on the defensive end.”

Sheppard led all scorers with 20 points and was the only Hokie to score in double figures for the first time all season.

In what was a poor shooting night from both teams, it was a race to who could get to 20-points by halftime, as Virginia Tech went into the locker room with a 24-22 lead.

Stellar defense from the Hokies gave Georgia Tech problems and allowed only five field goals made between the second and third quarters, putting the Hokies up 43-33 heading into the fourth.

The Yellow Jackets put all of their struggles behind them and opened up the fourth on an 11-0 scoring run.

The Hokies would take the lead two more times, at 46-44 and 54-52, but were answered every time by a Georgia Tech basket.

“We have to minimize the mistakes that we make in vital times during the course of the game,” guard Aisha Sheppard said. “Obviously, they add up, and it could be the difference between a win and a loss. We have the pieces there, we just have to connect better and minimize the mistakes we make throughout the game.”

Next up for the Hokies is UNC on Thursday in Chapel Hill at 6:00 p.m. The Tar Heels sit just outside the AP Top 25 at number 26, but have played only one game since December 20th.