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BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Elizabeth Kitley scored 34 points to lift No. 8 Virginia Tech to a 74-62 victory over North Carolina on Sunday for its 10th consecutive win and at least a share of the program’s first regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference title.
Kitley connected on 11 of 17 from the floor, went 12 of 14 from the free-throw line and grabbed eight rebounds for the Hokies (23-4, 14-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who locked up the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament. Syracuse and North Carolina State could still share the regular-season title with the Hokies, but both need to win out and hope Virginia Tech loses out.
“It’s really cool,” Kitley said. “Obviously, we have two regular-season games left, so we’re not jumping too far ahead. At the start of the season, we wanted to put ourselves in a good position, not just for the ACC Tournament, but the NCAA Tournament. The way we’ve been clicking the last month and a half, that has helped us do that.”
Deja Kelly led the Tar Heels (18-10, 10-6) with 29 points. The loss ended North Carolina’s three-game winning streak.
Riding the passion of another sellout crowd — the program’s fifth this season — the Hokies, who were down early, used a 21-2 run to end the first quarter and never trailed again. Kitley scored six during the run, and Matilda Ekh hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to end the quarter and give the Hokies a 16-point lead.
North Carolina cut the lead to 35-30 on a 3-pointer by Lexi Donarski with 9:19 left in the third quarter, but Virginia Tech’s Georgia Amoore took over, scoring 14 of her 19 points in the third, including a pullup 3 at the end of the quarter that pushed the Hokies’ lead back to 57-47. The Hokies eventually pushed the lead to 19 and pulled away.
With less than a minute remaining, Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks pulled Kitley, Cayla King, and Georgia Amoore, who have turned the program into one of the ACC’s best, along with transfer Olivia Summiel. Kitley, King and Summiel were playing their last regular-season game at home, while Amoore could return for another season.
“It’s one thing for them to buy into my vision and say, ‘OK, he said it’s going to be this, let’s go there,’” Brooks said. “But they had to work hard to make it come true.
“I’ve never been around harder workers. Not only was it my vision, but they probably believed in my vision more than I did, and they work and work and work, and as a result, they walk out here and think they can play with anybody.”
Ekh finished with 11 points for the Hokies. Donarski had 10 for the Tar Heels, who had more points in the paint (22-18), more points off turnovers (14-4) and more bench points (13-5) than Virginia Tech but allowed the Hokies to shoot 52.9% (27 of 51).
“You can pick apart the nuance of it, but what Georgia Amoore and Elizabeth Kitley did was fun to watch,” North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart said. “It wasn’t that we didn’t defend well. I think that’s belittling to how good those two players are to say one of the best defensive teams in the league didn’t guard them. … These are really good players that are hard to guard, and we guarded them well. They’re just really good.”
TAKEAWAYS
North Carolina: The Tar Heels’ tough luck against the Hokies continued. North Carolina lost six consecutive games to Virginia Tech, with five of those losses by five points or fewer or in overtime.
Virginia Tech: For the second straight season, the Hokies are peaking at the right time. They moved to 14-0 in February over the past two seasons.
AMOORE SETS MARK
Amoore finished the game with 11 assists and became the program’s all-time leader in that category. She has 636 assists, surpassing the previous mark of 635 held by Lisa Witherspoon (1995-99).
POLL IMPLICATIONS
At worst, Virginia Tech will remain in the top 10 for a second consecutive week and potentially could move up a spot or two in Monday’s poll.
UP NEXT
North Carolina: Plays at Boston College on Thursday.
Virginia Tech: Plays at No. 19 Notre Dame on Thursday.
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