Virginia Tech Led in Final Minute in Four-point Loss to No. 2 Louisville

Jackson Didlake

January 8, 2021

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Once down 16, Virginia Tech clawed its way back into the game before No. 2 Louisville took the lead on a Dana Evans shot with 23.6 seconds remaining.

The Hokies drew up a play late with the shot clock off and Georgia Amoore seemed to be holding on to the ball for a final shot before she was stripped by Evans to preserve a 71-67 victory for the Cardinals.

“We wanted to shoot it with enough time to get a rebound,” Virginia Tech head coach Kenny Brooks said. “We were going to go for the win.”

Virginia Tech started the season with six consecutive wins, including a victory over Pitt in ACC play. Since, the Hokies have lost three straight.

Virginia Tech was originally scheduled to play No. 3 NC State, but the Wolfpack were forced to cancel the game after a positive COVID-19 test.

Aisha Sheppard was lethal from the free throw line in Thursday night’sthe contest, scoring nine of her 20 points from the charity stripe. Elizabeth Kitley was second in scoring on the Hokies with 17 points and added seven rebounds.

The star of the game was Louisville’s Evans, going for a game-high 22 points while shooting 50% from the field. The other Cardinal in double digits was Hailey Van Lith, who added 16 points and seven rebounds.

The Cardinals shot 48.4% from the field compared to the Hokies 39.3%, but the biggest downfall for Virginia Tech was its struggles at the line.

“When you get to the line, you have to capitalize,” Brooks said. “We left a lot of points out on the table … they were momentum killers.”

The Hokies only sank 17 of 26 free throws, losing out on key points that could have swung the contest.

“In a game like this, we have to hit our free throws,” Kitley said.

The Hokies opened the scoring with a Sheppard three to take its biggest lead of the game before the Cardinals responded with an 11-2 run. Louisville scored six unanswered to close out the period, leading by 12 points at the end of the quarter.

The Hokies responded well to start the second quarter with five straight of their own, but the Cardinals rebounded with a 7-0 run, capped off by a Norika Konno three that forced a Virginia Tech timeout. The Hokies trailed by as many as 15 in the second quarter but rallied back and an Asiah Jones field goal at the buzzer made it 42-33 Louisville heading into the break.

In a nearly empty Cassell Coliseum, the small crowd in attendance erupted after a Cayla King three that cut the Cardinals’ lead to just six points in the third quarter after a Sheppard steal that came in the midst of the run.

Virginia Tech went off on a 16-2 run, which included King’s important triple, capped off with a Sheppard free throw with 2:41 remaining in the third period to put the Hokies up 51-50.

The Cardinals came into the fourth quarter with some serious foul trouble, having three of their starters with three personals. For the Hokies, they were happy to see the return of Sheppard in the quarter after she went down with a right calf injury in the late third.

Louisville got off to a fast start in the fourth, going on a 5-0 run to start the period, but the Hokies wouldn’t go away. The crowd continued to buzz as the Hokies tightened the game down the stretch before Kitley took the lead with 3:07 remaining on a Sheppard drop off.

Louisville quickly regained the lead before Sheppard drilled a three to take it back. The Hokies opted to call a timeout with 1:37 left, up 67-65, before the Cardinals went on a 5-0 run to close out the game in dramatic fashion.

“We didn’t exactly finish the way we wanted to, but we played hard,” Kitley said.

The Hokies will look to end their three-game skid on Sunday on the road against Georgia Tech.