SEATTLE (AP) — All through this historic period for Virginia Tech, mentor Kenny Brooks has recurring the belief that Elizabeth Kitley is the most effective participant for the Hokies, but Georgia Amoore is the most crucial.
It was demonstrated all over again Saturday with Amoore carrying Virginia Tech to a amount it’s in no way achieved in advance of in program history.
Amoore scored a career-significant 29 details and the top rated-seeded Hokies highly developed to the Elite 8 for the first time in university history with a 73-64 gain over No. 4 seed Tennessee.
“I just want to win. All we have to do is retain winning to get persons to discuss about us, so we’ll keep making an attempt to get,” Amoore claimed.
The Hokies (30-4) received their 14th straight game all round and superior to a matchup with No. 3 seed Ohio State in the Seattle 3 Regional remaining on Monday evening. Ohio Condition topped UConn in the 1st semifinal, ending the Huskies’ streak of 14 straight Last 4 appearances.
Amoore and the Hokies utilised a dominant stretch spanning the conclude of the 2nd quarter and commencing of the 3rd that crafted adequate of a cushion to keep off Tennessee’s valiant rally over the final 12 minutes.
Amoore tried 19 3-tips in the Hokies’ 2nd-round get, but shot only 14 this time about.
“She’s only doing now what we see all the time. When the young ones have to go out and guard her, they actually tighten up their shoestrings simply because they know that there is anything that can occur,” Brooks stated. “But she’s phenomenal. She’s as very good as any one in the country, in my opinion. She’s playing with the utmost self-confidence and she’s been playing like this at any time due to the fact we definitely started this extend.”
Kayana Traylor added 14 points and Kitley scored 12 factors even with sitting a big chunk of the very first half with foul difficulty. The ACC Event champions experienced attained the Sweet 16 only after earlier in faculty history and are now one particular acquire absent from the Last 4.
“I’m just so happy that I landed at these types of an awesome location the place we did exactly what we wanted to,” Kitley said. “And it has not been uncomplicated and it is taken mentor Brooks a handful of yrs, but what he’s performed with the system and the quantity of time is amazing.”
Jordan Horston led Tennessee (25-12) with 17 points. Rickea Jackson scored 15 and Jordan Walker added 12.
The Woman Vols achieved the regional semifinals for the second straight period, but haven’t been to the Elite Eight considering the fact that 2016. And it was their offense that was so outstanding in the initial two rounds that disappeared from the Hokies.
“I felt like we have been locked in and focused prior to the game. We had fantastic electrical power in warmup, so almost nothing with that. But we just ended up a very little stagnant on the offensive end,” Walker said.
The Girl Vols scored 95 points in their 1st-spherical gain above Saint Louis and adopted up with 94 in an amazing blowout of Toledo. But Tennessee relied far too a lot on perimeter shots early on, to the place coach Kellie Harper yelled at her group “who are we?” right after attempting their 12th 3-pointer of the initially half.
Tennessee manufactured just 3 of 17 tries from beyond the arc against the Hokies right after creating 11 of 22 in the acquire in excess of Toledo.
“They did a very good position with our initial assault and we bought seriously impatient,” Harper reported. “I thought we were being actually stagnant offensively, and for that reason we have been settling. We took way much too numerous threes for us in the first 50 {515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502}.”
The Hokies closed the to start with 50 {515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} with a flourish, scoring the closing eight details to get a 35-22 lead at the crack. Amoore started off the second fifty percent with her fourth 3-pointer of the match and Kitley scored on the inside and rapidly a 5-point game ballooned to a 40-22 Virginia Tech guide.
Tennessee trimmed the deficit to nine by the close of the 3rd quarter and its surge ongoing into the fourth quarter. The Lady Vols capped the 19-4 operate with Jasmine Powell’s 3-pointer with 6:05 left and pulled with 53-52.
But turnovers and fouls started off to mount and for the Woman Vols and Virginia Tech pushed its guide back again to 11 on Amoore’s jumper with 2:10 remaining.
“It was a problem. I’m glad we pulled absent from it,” Amoore reported. “It’s what we’re going to see with Ohio Point out with their press. Glad we bought a little taste of it now. Now we know.”
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