Blacksburg, Va. – It may not have been as as dynamic a victory as the fans would have liked But the Hokies advanced past round 1 opponent Chattanooga, despite an slow-paced contest-- The South Dakota State team that awaits them in round 2 probably will prefer a similar pace.
“We definitely like to get out and transition so hopefully will be able to keep the tempo up and that’s just gonna be on us to set the tone tomorrow and take advantage of the opportunities that we have,” Hokies All-American Center Liz Kitley says.
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”We are a big like flow and like Defense to our fence kind of team so I think early if we can get our defense kind of go in and get some turnovers and steals going I think we’ll get our offense going so,” Virginia Tech guard Cayla King says.
The Jackrabbits may not strike fear in the casual women’s basketball viewer, but a check of their out of conference schedule should bring you pause. They regularly play teams like South Carolina, Kansas State, UCLA, Louisville, Mississippi State- making them all the more prepared for this time of year.
”We play the nonconference schedule that we do because because we want to prepare ourselves for these opportunities that we have right now, so we definitely schedule tough nonconference games to get us ready for these kind of moments,” Jackrabbits guard Paige Meyer says.
“And it helps us prepare, prepare for games like this real when you really gotta have it in the NCAA tournament and against an elite team and I really like that, I love those challenges,” South Dakota State head ocach Aaron Johnston says.
“Definitely --our non-conference schedule definitely prepares us for these moments and I think we’re able to play a lot of different styles and to play against different styles of play so it prepares us for post season,” Jackrabbits forward Kallie Theisen says.
The 28-4 Hokies are trying to become only the second team in program history to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. They’ll do it with a healthy Taylor Soule, and a healthy understanding of who they face. Tip time 5 p.m. Sunday night in Blacksburg in the NCAA Round of 32.