Virginia Tech sweeps Commonwealth Clash with 71-42 thrashing of Virginia

By Jack Brizendine

Staff Writer

January 27, 2022

CHARLOTTESVILLE — A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. When one link breaks, the chain is virtually destroyed.

In the last minute of the first quarter, Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech’s All-ACC center, left Thursday night’s game against Virginia with a groin injury, per head coach Kenny Brooks. Without her, the strength of the Hokies’ chain was tested; however, it proved it can stay strong without one of its most important links.

Kitley’s exit forced reserve forward D’Asia Gregg into the 5 spot for the majority of the following three quarters. Not only was Gregg filling in for the Hokies’ top player, she also had the responsibility of guarding Virginia’s Mir McLean, who was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA a little over an hour before tipoff.

With all the odds stacked against her, Gregg acted as a catalyst for VT, finishing with a +/- of 27 points, good for third-best on the team. She shutdown McLean in the second half, holding the former McDonald’s All-American to zero points over the final twenty minutes.

“D’asia Gregg is one of the smartest players that we have,” Brooks said. “I swear I think she can coach, once she finishes. She loves basketball, understands it, knows angles.”

Her teammates expressed their appreciation for her standout performance as well.

“D’Asia’s a tough one,” Georgia Amoore said. “She comes in and she just gets the job done, so I’m incredibly proud of her.”

Gregg’s admirable pinch-hitting performance was demonstrative of the entire team effort from Virginia Tech (15-5, 7-2 Atlantic Coast) in its 71-42 thrashing of Virginia (3-14, 0-7 ACC) in Charlottesville to sweep the season series. VT edged out UVa only nine days prior in Blacksburg, 69-52.

In Virginia Tech’s largest victory over Virginia in program history, all eight players who played minutes for the Hokies scored, with Georgia Amoore and Aisha Sheppard combining for 41 points alone.

“It always feels good to win here, especially being my last time playing here,” Sheppard said. “UVa’s tough. They always play hard. They’re always physical. It’s always great to get a win here.”

Sheppard bucketed five threes in the game, her highest total from behind the arc since the Hokies lost 59-40 at Liberty on December 7.

“Aisha Sheppard, welcome back,” Brooks said. “We needed it. Call myself a little bit of a prophet because yesterday I stopped practice, right in the middle of practice, and I told her she’s a rhythm shooter, and she was just not in rhythm. I said, and this is in front of everybody, I said, ‘Look, you need to step into your shot, get into your rhythm,’ and she did it. She made it and I said, ‘Do it again.’ She made it.

I said ‘If you do that, you’re going to make five 3-pointers tomorrow.’”

While the Hokies were lighting up the scoreboard offensively, they were stingy on defense, holding the Cavaliers to only 35% shooting from the field and forced 19 turnovers.

Virginia Tech performed well throughout the entirety of the contest, but still kept their most valuable player in their thoughts while they battled.

“I think we just took it as motivation,” Amoore said of Kitley’s early exit. “She’s obviously a big part of what we do. … When Liz gets hurt, she doesn’t really get hurt, but obviously she was out, so mentally I think we were just doing it for Liz.”