Virginia Tech Offense Goes Cold in 68-55 Loss at no. 20 Notre Dame

By Caleb Wetzel

Staff Writer

February 3, 2022

One of the most common sayings in basketball that applies to a lot of teams is, “You either live by the three, or you die by it.”

The old saying often applies to Virginia Tech as it has shot 185 more threes than its opponents in its games this season. When you have sharpshooters like Aisha Sheppard, Georgia Amoore and Cayla King it has often boded well for the Hokies.

But the latter option of the adage held true for the usual sharpshooting Hokies as they shot a bleak 6-of-20 from three in a disappointing 68-55 loss to No. 20 Notre Dame.

The Hokies looked to be on fire out of the gates, coming out firing in the first quarter knocking down four 3-pointers and having the lead for most of the quarter.

But sometimes a hot streak is brief, and that was the case tonight as the offense could not get going. They only scored six points in the second quarter and made two of their last 20 shots in the half.

The defense had a bit of a rough night as well as the Irish seemed to be able to get whatever they wanted on offense. They knocked down eight three-pointers and also had 24 points in the paint.

Olivia Miles led all scorers with 24 points and all seven players who entered the game for Notre Dame had at least five points.

A major storyline pregame was the question as to whether or not star center Elizabeth Kitley would play for the Hokies after leaving with an injury last week against Virginia. She averages 17.6 points per game so having her back was important.

Although she was good to go for the game tonight, Kitley struggled to get going scoring only eight points on 3-10 shooting from the field. She did have 12 points and three blocks, but it was clear that her past injury may have still been bothering her. It will be key to see how she bounces back from this off-game, her first of the year.

Virginia Tech (15-6, 7-3 ACC) will travel back home looking to bounce back with a win against Boston College.

Notre Dame (18-4, 9-2) travels to Tallahassee looking to add to their 5-game win streak as they take on Florida State.