Virginia Tech Falls Short again, this time against notre dame

Jay Winters

January 22, 2021

BLACKSBURG, Va. - It was a herculean comeback in the second half, but just like every recent Virginia Tech loss, it came up just short and the Hokies fell 65-60 to Notre Dame.

As with any game, there are positives to take away, but senior Aisha Sheppard and company aren’t satisfied coming away with positives anymore.

“There are positives of course, but right now we just have to be better,” Sheppard said. “We have to find a way to win. We’re doing this to ourselves, and as many times as I’ve done media this year you’ve heard that a lot. We have to figure out a way to do things differently.”

The combination of a lopsided quarter, mistakes down the stretch, and scoring draughts all cost the Hokies at different points throughout the game, and led to another loss that came down to the final minute.

“It’s like we sell sabotage,” Virginia Tech head coach Kenny Brooks said. “Close isn’t good enough. We can’t get over the hump, you know, another game is single digits, but I think we’re going to continue to fight.”

A promising first quarter that found the Hokies up 16-9 was quickly erased after the Irish blew the game open in the second quarter, outscoring Tech 27-9 and heading into halftime with a 36-25 lead.

Notre Dame (8-5, 6-3 ACC) guard Destinee Walker, who didn’t play in the first contest, had 13 points in the second quarter and knocked down three of five shots from beyond the arc.

“We just need to play full games,” reigning ACC Co-Player of the week Elizabeth Kitley said. “You can look back at all of our games, and I feel like every game we just have one quarter where we lose focus, and we can’t do that and expect to win in the ACC.”

Tech (7-6, 2-6 ACC) found themselves down by as many as 21 in the third quarter, but buckets by D’asia Gregg (her second field goal of the year), Cayla King and Kitley cut the Irish lead to 12 heading into the fourth.

The first half of the final quarter was dead even, but right around the four-minute mark was when Sheppard went on a 7-0 run of her own to cut the lead to five, followed by a King three that cut the lead to two.

A Notre Dame free throw would push the Irish lead to three, and Virginia Tech found themselves in a familiar situation with the ball under a minute to play.

Tech would miss an initial three from Sheppard, but after a defensive stop, the Hokies again found themselves with the ball down three with 19 seconds left.

In what felt like shades of the Georgia Tech game, the Hokies took a timeout, inbounded from half court, dumped it inside to Elizabeth Kitley, and before she could even catch the ball, she was doubled. Kitley ended up turning the ball over, giving Notre Dame free throws.

“I can take care of the ball better and give us a shot instead of turning it over,” Kitley said. “I take a lot of responsibility for that. I can’t put all that blame on myself for that one play, but I easily could’ve gotten a shot off on that possession.”

Former Hokie Dara Mabrey iced the game with four straight free throws down the stretch to make it a 65-60 finish.

The Irish held Tech to its worst shooting performances of the season, locking the Hokies up to 30% from the field and 23% from three, while also forcing seven turnovers out of Kitley.

Walker was the leader for the Irish with 16 points, while freshman Maddy Westbeld recorded a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.

The Hokies were led by Sheppard, who gave every ounce of effort she had in a season-high 29-point game, while tying the all time record for three-pointers in Virginia Tech history at 269.

Kitley also recorded her ninth double-double of the year, with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Next up for Virginia Tech is a doubleheader of No. 2 NC State, with the first contest on Sunday at 4 p.m. in Raleigh and the second in Blacksburg next Thursday at 4 p.m.