Tech Women's Basketball Comes Back To Beat Syracuse

By Sam Mostow 

Staff Writer

February 2, 2023

Virginia Tech's D'asia Gregg put up 9 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists in the Hokies' 78-64 win over Syracuse. (Virginia Tech Athletics)

BLACKSBURG - It certainly wasn’t easy, but Virginia Tech women’s basketball took down Syracuse for the third consecutive time.

The No. 13 Hokies (18–4, 8–4 ACC), winners of four of the last five, went on a 16–0 run in the third and fourth quarters to take down the Orange (14–9, 5–7 ACC), 78–64.

Tech struggled from the onset, appearing vastly overmatched by an unranked team, trailing 17–11 after the first quarter. Tech shot 29.4% from the field in the opening period, committing four fouls, while center Elizabeth Kitley and guard Cayla King totaled zero points.

But in the second quarter, they started to show life. Although trailing 36–35 going into halftime, King scored 10 points and Kitley scored eight in the second quarter, as the team outscored the Orange, 24–19.

The Hokies turned the game on its head towards the end, shooting 72.7% from the field in the fourth quarter. Tech outscored the Orange 67–47 in the last three quarters.

Between the first two quarters, Virginia Tech head coach Kenny Brooks spoke to his team as they trailed, emphasizing that the Hokies could play better.

“I just know the capabilities of this group,” Brooks said. “And they just gotta lock in and focus and if they do that, you know, they’re going to be special, they have a chance to be special.”

After the game, Kitley reflected on what went wrong at the start of the game and how it improved.

“We were extremely hesitant on offense in the first quarter,” she said. “We were not reading the defense well at all and then we were second guessing our open shots. …I think we settled in a bit, but we can’t always afford to do that.”

Kitley led the Hokies with 20 points, with an additional 11 rebounds, shooting 64.2% from the field.

“Liz [Kitley] was really good inside,” Brooks said. “A little bit hesitant in some areas, but [20 points and 11 rebounds], I’ll take it all day.”

King made five shots from behind the three-point arc, totaling 19 points and contributing to Tech hitting 53.9% of their three-pointers in the last three quarters. When asked to elaborate on what worked for her from behind the arc, King redirected the credit.

“I think it’s just my teammates,” King said. “They always find me, even when I’ve been in a little shooting slump, people would say, but they have the confidence that it’s going to go in every shot. So they keep looking for me, keep telling me to shoot, and eventually, it falls.”

Forward Taylor Soule only played four minutes in the first half after accumulating two fouls at the start of the game. Regardless of the limited minutes, she scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds.

“I’ve told her multiple times: we’re better when she’s on the floor,” Brooks said. “And when she gets into early foul trouble, it just really throws us out of sync.”

Forward D’asia Gregg flirted with a double-double, scoring nine points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Her impact off the bench was critical for the Hokies in their win.

“People stepped up, in particular D’asia Gregg, in the first half I thought she was terrific,” Brooks said.

Dyaisha Fair, the reigning ACC Player of the Week, scored 20 points for the Orange and was a headache all evening for Tech. 

“[Fair is] very crafty, shifty, you can’t say she’s one-dimensional,” Brooks said. “She can shoot two, three, she can get to the lane, she can create for others.”

Virginia Tech prepares to enter the most difficult stretch of its season, in which five of their six remaining games are against ranked opponents. Its next test is on the road against No. 15 N.C. State (16–6, 6–5 ACC), who has emerged as a rival to the Hokies in recent years. Tech has lost four consecutive games to the Wolfpack, including most recently in the 2022 ACC Tournament. 

“This is cliché, but we’re taking it one game at a time,” Kitley said. “We have N.C. State coming up. [There will be a] sold out crowd, that’s going to be an insane environment.”

Brooks reflected on his experiences coaching against N.C. State and head coach Wes Moore in the past. Most recently, after the Wolfpack eliminated Tech in the 2022 ACC Tournament semifinals, they addressed the opposite teams in the locker rooms postgame.

“Last year, one of the coolest things I’ve ever done as a coach [was when] we lost to them in the [ACC Tournament] semifinals,” Brooks said. “As soon as the game was over with, he and I were walking up, and are good friends, and I looked at him and said ‘do you mind if I go talk to your team?’ And so he went into my locker room to talk to our girls, and I went into his locker room and talked to his girls.”

The Hokies will travel to N.C. State on Monday at 6:00 p.m. for a nationally-televised matchup on ESPN2.