No. 16 Duke Downs No. 12 Virginia Tech In Durham

By Jack Brizendine

Staff Writer

January 26, 2023

Duke's Shayeann Day-Wilson scored 18 points to lead the way in the Blue Devils' 66-55 win over Virginia Tech. (Duke Athletics)

DURHAM N.C. — Kenny Brooks was at a loss for words at the beginning of his postgame press conference.

Following a grueling 40 minutes at Cameron Indoor Stadium against No. 16 Duke (18-2, 8-1) in which two of his star players combined for only 11 points, he fielded questions while trying to curb his frustration.

“It was a tough night,” Brooks said to reporters postgame. “I’m just trying to choose my words carefully so that I don’t get in trouble.”

With a chance to gain ground in the race to the top of the ACC, No. 12 Virginia Tech (16-4, 6-4) crumbled against the Blue Devils Thursday night, 66-55.

Duke irritated Tech on both sides of the ball all night, keeping VT’s offensive weapons at bay while creating good looks on the other end of the floor.

The Hokies were only able to generate 11 total points between Georgia Amoore and Elizabeth Kitley. The duo shot a combined 3-for-21 from the field and accounted for six turnovers.

Amoore only sank one triple on the night, going 1-for-9 from range.

“Duke played well, they played hard, they were very physical,” Brooks said. “The level of physicality, if that’s the way that it’s going to be able to be throughout, hell, I probably will employ her [Kitley] to go pro.”

The rough style of Duke’s game slowed Kitley down in the paint, forcing a two-point, 1-for-9 shooting night from the senior center.

VT was largely carried by Taylor Soule, who dropped a team-high 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting. The transfer from Boston College put the team on her back in the second half, scoring 12 of Tech’s final 23 points in the contest.

D’asia Gregg helped keep VT afloat off the bench, scoring seven points in 26 minutes. She collected a pair of blocks as well.

Despite a lackluster start on both sides of the ball, the Hokies were able to nab the lead against the Blue Devils late in the third quarter.

From that point on, it was all Duke. The Blue Devils snatched the lead right back three minutes later, the start of a 21-6 run to put Tech away.

“Our defense was okay,” Brooks said. “We’ve just got to sure up some other things and we’ll be fine.

Shayeann Day-Wilson and Vanessa de Jesus led the way for Duke on offense, accounting for 28 combined points on 8-for-14 shooting.

The Blue Devils were able to sink 41.5% (22-53) from the field while combining for a trio of threes. Tech bucketed just 34.7% (17-49).

On offense, the Hokies were plagued by lackadaisical ball handling, turning the rock over 17 times, which resulted in 17 points in turn for the Blue Devils.

Ashley Owusu, who has been gradually returning from injury over the past few games, only clocked seven minutes against Duke.

“It’s really not fair to ask her to come into a high-intensity game like this when she’s only had a week of practice,” Brooks said. “We’ve been trying to do some things to help get her some extra reps so that she can get going, but she’s gotta get her wind.

“Once she gets her wind, I think she’ll be able to contribute.”

Things don’t get much easier for Kenny Brooks’ squad in the coming weeks. The Hokies travel on Sunday to Charlottesville to take on a solid Virginia team before hosting Syracuse on Thursday.

“We’ll regroup and get ready for Sunday against UVa,” Brooks said.