Willoughby and Toussaint steal Hokies' senior spotlight

Will Copeland

February 23, 2020

BLACKSBURG, VA. - Seniority was celebrated on Sunday afternoon in Cassell Coliseum, though Dominique Toussaint and Jocelyn Willoughby spoiled Virginia Tech’s (20-7, 10-6 ACC) party with two 29-point performances in Virginia’s 86-76 victory.

Toussaint scoffed at her 10.5 points-per-game average on the season, contributing 17 of her career-high 29 points in the first half for the Cavaliers (12-15, 7-9). The 5-foot-9-inch guard, who adds 3.1 assists-per-game, prioritized both aspects on Sunday, dishing out four dimes.

“It was about finding the balance of being a facilitator and a scorer,” Toussaint said. “Some nights I'll get a lot of assists and other nights I’ll score a lot and not facilitate. Tonight, I found that balance and I was comfortable in my abilities.”

Willoughby, who boasts the pole position in the ACC with 19.5 points-per-game, was an obviously valuable partner to Toussaint throughout the day.

“These two [pointing at Toussaint and Willoughby] put us on their backs,” Virginia head coach Tina Thompson said. “They had incredible offensive and defensive games. It’s important to get this type of leadership from our fourth years— looking confident, being confident and also encouraging their teammates.”

Tech (20-7, 10-6 ACC) head coach Kenny Brooks has had a front-row seat to Virginia’s top dogs in his four years in Blacksburg and now holds a 2-6 record against the Wahoos.

“Those are probably the two I’ve played the most,” an unsurprised Brooks said on Toussaint and Willoughby’s outing. “You know who they are and you know what they’re capable of.”

The rivalry spirit was not lost in the tilt between Virginia’s two predominant athletic institutions. If anything, it was heightened by 51 combined team fouls — the most either team has encountered all season.

The Hokies suffered the most, losing starting seniors Taja Cole and Lydia Rivers to foul trouble early on in the first half. These losses left the Tech offense lacking its typical fluid movement and flustered, falling into a deficit as large as 13 points in the first half.

“We have kids that play strong minutes for us and they didn’t play hardly at all,” Brooks said. “We were hoping they were going to give us a boost with their energy. We just didn’t play smart; we made countless mental mistakes.”

Freshman Liz Kitley— who put up a boisterous 14 points, 10 boards and eight blocks against Notre Dame on Thursday— flirted with a double-double on 16 points and nine rebounds but found the Hokies’ offense disrupted with foul trouble.

“It took us out of our rhythm,” Kitley said. “We’re a team that succeeds off of rhythm and we get in a zone.”

Thompson said that the Wahoos had a bad taste in their mouth after dropping the first meeting, in which they surrendered a 16-point lead. To ensure that her squad would execute better, she introduced a new strategy in preparing for the game.

“We made our kids more responsible for the scout,” Thompson said.

Rather than simply instructing her squad, the Naismith Hall of Fame member wanted her players to scheme and prepare for the Hokies.

“It’s one thing to understand what you’re supposed to do but to then have to talk each other through it and direct each other,” Thompson said. “It gives you a lot more ownership of it.”

To complement the Cavalier’s success in deranging Tech’s attack was an efficient scoring performance, as Virginia shot 57.4% from the field.

“We were patient and got the looks that we wanted to,” Willoughby said. “Tech kind of struggles in the pick-and-roll, so [we found success] coming off attacking or getting a pull-up jumper, and [Toussaint] had some great assists on that just being patient and getting the looks that we wanted.”

Matching up with Toussaint for most of the night was junior Aisha Sheppard, who on any other afternoon would be the headliner in this ACC clash. The sharp-shooter dropped a career-high 32 points and tied her own school-record of eight three-point field goals made.

Sheppard’s effort allowed the Hokies to climb back into the game to close out the third quarter as she scored 10 of Tech’s last 12 points in the frame and brought the deficit down to a single point.

Even coming off two lowly performances against Notre Dame and Wake Forest, Sheppard’s light stayed green.

“Shooters shoot,” Sheppard said. “Obviously, I’ve struggled the past couple of games, but my mindset hasn’t changed. I still need to shoot the ball and my teammates expect me to shoot the ball, tonight it was going in.”

With ACC play nearing an end, Virginia sits 10th in the table, a spot that may not reflect their worth.

“I don't think the place they are in the standings does them justice for the way they played today,” Sheppard said, acknowledging that the rivalry also added inspiration for the side.

Both teams still have big dates to look ahead towards. Virginia faces bottom positioned Pitt before wrapping up the year against No. 10 NC State at home, while Tech welcomes Duke into Cassell before heading to battle No. 5 Louisville.

With much of the league standings in flux, a potential third deciding match still looms a possibility between the schools.