BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech women’s basketball team ran away from Purdue 67-54 Thursday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge against Purdue on Carilion Clinic Court at Cassell Coliseum. The win brings the program’s record to 7-6 in the competition all-time and advanced Kenny Brooks’ squad to 7-1 on the season.
Purdue fell to 6-2. Tech would never trail Thursday, as the Hokies got off to a quick start, scoring a basket on the first possession of the game through Elizabeth Kitley’s jumper in the post and would go on to score nine of the game’s first 13 points.
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Sophomore Dara Mabrey connected on two first quarter 3′s as she continues to climb the charts in that category.
At the half, the teams were seperated by just two points, after the Hokies were held to their lowest total after 20 minutes. In the third, the Hokies scored the first nine points behind buckets from Taja Cole, Mabrey, Lydia Rivers, and Kitley. The Boilermakers would counter with a run of their own to keep the game close.
The game tilted firmly in the favor of the Hokies in the third quarter when Aisha Sheppard sparked a 10-2 run with seven points of her own. The junior, who leads the team in scoring finished with 17, with 15 coming after the break.
Tech sealed the victory with a 10-0 run in the fourth to take a 15-point lead, the largest of the night and Cole and Sheppard both scored late to salt it away.
Tamara Farquhar led all scorers in the game with 18 points and also added six rebounds. As a team, the Boilermakers shot 40% and committed 16 turnovers.