BLACKSBURG, Va. – The second round of the NCAA Women’s Tournament continued in Blacksburg where the top seed from the Seattle 3 Region, Virginia Tech, defeated No. 9 South Dakota State 72-60.
The Hokies started the game by lighting it up from beyond the arc where four of their first five shots were three pointers. Georgia Amoore had two early along with one each from Cayla King and Kayana Traylor. It helped the team jump to a 19-7 lead over the Jackrabbits after the first quarter.
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End of 1Q: #Hokies out to a 12 point lead 19-7 over SDSU. Looking pretty good from the 3 pic.twitter.com/VlDTAypbeC
— Brooke Leonard (@abrookeleonard) March 19, 2023
While Virginia Tech led 46-23 at halftime, the Hokies were outscored by the Jackrabbits 20-13 in the third quarter. South Dakota State cut the lead down to as little as 11 in the fourth quarter. At the same time, the Hokies three point shooting also cooled off, 1-of-6 in the third quarter.
Haleigh Timmer, Paige Meyer and Myah Selland all scored in double figures for the Jackrabbits, combining for points.
For Virginia Tech, Tyalor Soule, Kayana Traylor, Elizabeth Kitley and Georgia Amoore all tallied double figures. Amoore finished with 7 three pointers for 21 total points. Kitley also notched 4 blocks and in the process became the program’s all-time leading shot blocker as she passed Ieva Kublina’s 256 mark.
With the victory, Virginia Tech advances to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women’s Tournament for just the second time in program history. The Hokies will play the winner of the Toledo vs. Tennessee matchup in Seattle next weekend.