BLACKSBURG, Va. – Georgia Amoore scored 26 points, Elizabeth Kitley added 24 and No. 16 Virginia Tech turned back Boston College 74-63 on Sunday, the seventh-straight win for the Hokies and seventh-straight loss for the Eagles.
Matilda Ekh and Cayla King, who struggled with their shot all day, had critical baskets in the fourth quarter.
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After the Eagles pulled within 54-51 early in the fourth quarter, Ekh drilled a 3-pointer. Boston College was down eight when King wrapped it up with a 3 with 41 seconds to go.
Ekh was 3 of 11 behind the arc, King 2 of 14 but Amoore was 4 of 7. Kitley had 15 rebounds and Olivia Summiel had 11 as the Hokies (20-4, 11-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) had a 51-29 advantage on the boards.
Boston College (11-15, 3-10) was led by T’Yana Todd and Teya Sidberry with 15 points each. Andrea Daley added 11. The Eagles forced 17 turnovers while committing eight for a 16-4 in points off turnovers.
Both teams had 27 field goals but Virginia Tech had nine 3s to five for the Eagles, who were outscored by seven at the line
Kitley and Amoore combined for 28 points in the first half, pushing the Hokies to a 37-29 lead. Amoore hit three 3s but Virginia Tech’s big advantage was 30-12 on the bards, 12-3 on the offensive end, good for 13 second-chance points. Both teams shot 41%.
Both teams had three 3s in the third quarter. Kaylah Ivey hit one to open the second half but Amoore and King countered for the Hokies to get the lead to 43-32. Ekh had another for Virginia Tech to make the lead 12, a lead the Hokies matched on Clara Strack’s three-point play.
The Eagles closed the quarter with a layup by Daley and JoJo Lacey’s 3 and they trailed 52-46 going into the fourth quarter.
While Virginia Tech is satisfied with the win, head coach Kenny Brooks was not satisfied with the physicality in the game, especially for All-American center Elizabeth Kitley.
“They are not guarding her. They’re beating her up,” Brooks said. “The game has to get better and it has to get cleaner and you get frustrated when she can come out with a knot on her head like she gets and nobody does anything. You know the game is supposed to protect certain areas and we have to enforce that.”
“I think we are very good at staying composed because at the end of the day we just want to play basketball and that’s what we are here to do,” said Kitley. “We also just know it’s coming like we are a very skilled team and when other teams look at us they probably think that’s what they have to do and they resort to those measures to try and compete with us.”
“It’s kind of sad too because it’s kind of like a degree to where we are not expecting to get calls so we might as well go with it,” Amoore said. “I think it’s like expect nothing but take everything really.”
Duke is at Virginia Tech on Thursday before the Hokies go to No. 15 Louisville on Sunday. Louisville as at Boston College on Thursday.