The Hokie Women Head to North Carolina to Close Their Non-Conference Games

Both Liz Kitley and Cayla King are from Northwest Guilford High School which is very local to High Point University. The game presented an opportunity for them to go home to visit family and friends and play some basketball for their local fans. Those fans evidently showed up at the game and were heard cheering for the Hokies, sporting maroon and getting a real treat.

The treat came with a Hokie win, but not before High Point made it known that they didn’t intend on being a cupcake to allow for an easy runaway victory. The Lady Panthers hung in with the Hokies through most of the first half.

The first quarter didn’t start with the usual big drain by either King or Amoore. Georgia, who wasn’t shooting much at all in the game, missed her opening 3-point bid, and High Point took advantage to go ahead 2-0 at the 8:17 mark of a 10-minute quarter. That didn’t last too long, though. Amoore drained her third attempt from downtown, and other than a few ties in the first quarter, Tech never really looked back.

The first half ended with the Hokies holding a ten-point advantage 42-32, and some steady momentum leaving the court for the break.

The Second Half was All Hokies, and a Tech Record was Set by the Final Buzzer

The tale of the second half was one of steady momentum on offense with solid defense. That resulted in constant pressure that built the lead from 10 to as many as 24 points early in the 4th quarter. Tech actually was up 25 at the 4:16 mark of the 4th, but Head Coach Kenny Brooks took his foot off the gas and started subbing in the bench more for the duration. Freshman Guard Maddie Vejsicky scored her fourth and fifth points of her collegiate career with two shots from the charity stripe to close out the tech scoring with 26 seconds left on the clock. High Point managed a layup as the last score of the game, and the Hokies walked away with a huge 20-point victory. That ends the non-NCAA Tournament non-conference schedule for the Hokies. It’s all ACC from here on out.

Oh? About That Record!

The Hokies really only had three players scoring nearly all of the points in the game. Liz Kitley put up an impressive 25 points (didn’t hit that double-double maybe because she was scoring so much) and seven rebounds. She also dished out a whopping 7 assists in the effort. All of it was in the paint except for three from the foul line. Taylor Soule made her presence on the court known very loudly. She posted up 24 points 7 boards, and 2 steals. Two players scoring above 20 points is a pretty hefty accomplishment, but right behind Soule, Kayana Traylor put up 22 points (9 of which were threes), That’s a program record. Three players with 20+ points in a game is an impressive feat. Georgia Amoore added 9 (she only shot 9 for the entire game) but was having long-distance sighting problems and also suffered from a bit of foul trouble that had her eventually foul out, but not until the dwindling seconds of the game.

The reality was that most of the shot attempts and points were scored by Kitley, Soule, and Traylor in this one. The remainder of the team distributed just 15 points. With a big ‘W’ and an undefeated non-conference record for the season, there isn’t going to be much for anyone to complain about. It’s still a long season, the ACC looms, and everyone is going to get a chance to make a difference more than once.

Next Up: The Hokies are headed to Clemson to take on the Lady Tigers on December 29th. Tip-off is at 6:00pm.

GO HOKIES!!!!