Hot Hokies Face INCONSISTENT PANTHERS IN PITTSBURGH

Topher Wagner

February 4, 2021

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Riding its first winning streak in months, Virginia Tech looks to truly get back into the ACC race in a matchup against the Pittsburgh Panthers.

After going through a brutal midseason stretch where they lost seven of eight games, it appears that the Hokies may finally be back.

In its last two games, Virginia Tech pulled off the biggest upset in program history by knocking off previously undefeated NC State, then followed that up with a four point win over a scrappy UNC squad this past Sunday. Heading into their matchup against Pitt, the Hokies look to finish the season out strong as they hit the final stretch of their ACC games.

For the Panthers, this matchup against the suddenly hot Hokies comes at a bad time as Pitt has endured a tough stretch to start its ACC slate, currently sitting at 11th in the standings. Despite this difficult run in conference play, Pitt impressed in a recent 10-point victory over Clemson before losing in blowout fashion to Syracuse.

If the Panthers want to upset Virginia Tech, they’ll need guard Dayshanette Harris to continue her strong play as the sophomore is second on the team in scoring while also putting up over twice as many assists as her next closest teammate.

This will be the second time that these two foes match up this year as Pitt traveled to Blacksburg in December to kick off both teams’ respective ACC schedules.

In that contest, the Hokies prevailed 88-71 as Pitt turned the ball over a total of 16 times while being completely unable to stop Tech’s high powered three-point offense. Virginia Tech also had four players score in double figures as Pitt’s starters seemed unable to guard the perimeter throughout the contest. Hokies sharpshooter Cayla King in particular went off, scoring a career high 29 points including seven 3-pointers.

This game will be the 17th in the all time series between the two squads with Virginia Tech currently holding an 11-5 lead including winning four in a row against Pitt. However, the Hokies are just 3-3 when traveling to Pittsburgh over the years, so the Panthers hope they will be able to put their home court advantage to good use in this one.

Virginia Tech Key to the Game: Win the Turnover Battle

After a brutal skid in the middle of their year, the Hokies have won back to back games primarily because of two key factors: hot three point shooting and not turning the basketball over.

In its last two games, Tech has turned the ball over 10 fewer times than its opponents and in many cases, has been able to capitalize off of the other team’s mistakes. Facing a Pitt squad that is coming off an outing where they turned the ball over a whopping 15 times, this is certainly a matchup that the Hokies will look to exploit throughout if they want to continue their winning streak.

Pittsburgh Key to the Game: Defend the three-point line

All season long, the Pitt defense has exhibited a tendency to allow their opponents to score in bursts which quickly allows many games to get out of hand. This is particularly true when trying to defend the deep ball.

In their first matchup against Virginia Tech, the Panthers allowed 15 three pointers as seemingly every drive down the court the Hokies were able to score at will from long range. Tech has been a three-point driven offense all season long and Pitt will have to find a way to try and stymie this lethal attack to prevent a similar outcome as last time.

Virginia Tech Player to Watch: Georgia Amoore

For the Hokies, it sometimes seems hard to talk about anyone except the star duo of Aisha Sheppard and Elizabeth Kitley this year. However, one emerging player to watch out for is Georgia Amoore, the scrappy guard from Australia.

She may not light up the stats sheet with scoring on a nightly basis, but Amoore consistently does all the right things and her minutes have continued to increase because of her strong play. In the Hokies’ latest win over UNC, Amoore made her presence felt on both sides of the ball as she put up six assists and two blocks on defense while playing hard all night.

To keep up its recent hot streak, Tech will need Amoore to make some timely plays in this one.

Pittsburgh Player to Watch: Jayla Everett

Despite its ups and downs this season, Everett has been a revelation for Pitt. The junior guard leads the team in scoring with 15 points per game while also being the Panthers’ most consistent three-point shooter all year.

In the first matchup with Virginia Tech this year, Everett put up 21 points and seemed to score at will throughout the night. Her production has fallen off lately, though. In the blowout loss to Syracuse, she had just four points and also turned the ball over three times in her worst outing of the season.

For a star that has been arguably Pitt’s best player this year, she’ll look to turn her play around in an upset attempt against the Hokies.

Score Prediction: Virginia Tech 82, Pittsburgh 65

Pitt has had a rough stretch this season, playing just nine games because of numerous cancellations in its schedule. When they have played, they have been incredibly inconsistent and have struggled mightily on the defensive side of the ball. Unfortunately for the Panthers, this appears to be a brutal matchup on paper as they host the white hot Hokies who thrive off of high scoring three-point basketball.

Despite the dynamic duo of Harris and Everett propelling Pitt throughout the season, the partnership of Sheppard and Kitley will be simply too much to overcome. The Hokies tandem has been dominant all year but especially in their last several games. Sheppard is riding high after her ACC player of the week win last week and will continue her stellar season as the Hokies win handily, 82-65.