Sheppard and Baines lead way in Virginia Tech’s rout of Clemson, 73-42

By Jack Brizendine

Staff Writer

February 9, 2022

BLACKSBURG — A combination of homegrown talent and offseason additions can make for a lethal squad in any sport.

Building a strong foundation and patching holes with additions from the transfer portal is how Kenny Brooks’ squad has found success, a philosophy that mirrors those of other prosperous teams, including the Super Bowl-bound Los Angeles Rams.

“Cooper Kupp. Aaron Donald. [They’re] the cornerstone of their team and then they added some great players,” Brooks said. “Well, we’ve got Aisha Sheppard, who has been here for five years. Liz Kitley who’s been here for three years. Georgia Amoore, her second year. Cayla King, her third year.

“Then when you add Kayana Traylor, who’s our Odell Beckham [Jr.], you add Azana Baines who is our Von Miller. You have to build it, because you gotta have people in your program that have been here for a long time to be able to compete.”

That methodology was validated in Virginia Tech’s (17-6, 9-3 Atlantic Coast) 73-42 dismantling of Clemson (8-16, 2-10 ACC) Tuesday night, as Aisha Sheppard and Azana Baines combined to outscore the Tigers with 43 points.

Sheppard led the team with 23 points, her highest total in over two months. The outing follows two games in which Sheppard combined for only 14 points.

“It has been a struggle, but I trust my work,” Sheppard said after the game. “I trust what I’ve put into this program and everything that I’ve done when nobody’s looking.”

The homegrown-transfer combination of Baines and Sheppard accounted for 18 buckets and six assists.

“I think it was just all about finding other options,” Baines said. “When [Clemson] took one thing away, I just tried to get open or do the little things to try and capitalize and try to make them pay for what they were doing to us.”

Baines downed an incredible 92% of her shots, finishing 11-of-12 from the field.

“I think one main thing [we did] was just running the floor and trying to find open shots on the floor,” Baines said on how Virginia Tech attacked Clemson’s defense. “A lot of times they were trapping our guards with ball screens and stuff, and they were doubling Elizabeth Kitley. Just finding the open spot on the floor.”

Virginia Tech had to rely on other scoring outlets for the majority of the game, as Clemson diverted much of its attention down low to Kitley, who scored a season-low two points on Tuesday night.

“We’re too good to put that much attention on one person, any of them,” Brooks said. “If you double-team Georgia [Amoore], then Liz is going to be able to go off, Aisha’s going to be able to go off. You double team Aisha, Liz is going to be able to go off. They put so much emphasis on Liz, and I guess they picked their poison.”

The Hokies now turn their attention to Thursday night’s big test, as they host No. 11 Georgia Tech (18-5, 9-3 ACC) and look to build on their best start to ACC play in program history.

“As long as we stay locked in and as long as we continue to stay together as a team and know that we’ve got each other’s backs, I feel like we’ll be able to handle anybody the whole rest of the season,” Baines said.