Kitley scores 29, No. 9 Virginia Tech women top Georgia Tech
ATLANTA (AP) — Elizabeth Kitley scored a season-high 29 points and added 11 rebounds to lead No. 9 Virginia Tech to a 65-52 victory over Georgia Tech on Sunday.
“She proved that she's the ACC player of the year,” Virginia Tech Kenny Brooks said of Kitley's performance. "There are some fine players in the league that have done some really good things but no one can compare to that kid and what she's done this year.
“She's definitely the ACC player of the year.”
Kayana Traylor added 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Georgia Amoore had eight points, seven assists and two steals for Virginia Tech (24-4, 14-4 ACC). Cayla King added 10 points.
“We just didn't have an answer for Kitley tonight,” Georgia Tech coach Nell Fortner said, “and she really, really hurt us.”
The Hokies, who have won eight straight games, won 14 games in the ACC for the first time and have reached the highest AP ranking in program history.
The Hokies led 18-10 after one quarter, then an 11-0 run midway through the second quarter gave them a 37-19 lead with 1:43 left in the half. Cameron Swartz closed the quarter with two 3-pointers for Georgia Tech, narrowing the gap to 37-25 at the break.
The Hokies' largest lead in the second half was 18 points when Traylor's layup made it 65-47 with 4:29 remaining.
“We played well in spurts,” Brooks said. “It’s a good win; it’s a hard place to play.”
Swartz scored 20 points and was the only player in double-figures scoring for the Yellow Jackets (13-16, 4-14). Georgia Tech shot 38% (21 of 55) overall and made 4 of 13 from the field (0 for 4 from 3-point range) in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we got good looks at the basket but we just couldn't knock shots down,” Fortner said.
Virginia Tech finished tied for second place with Duke and will be the third seed in the conference tournament that starts Wednesday in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Hokies will have a double bye and will play their first game on Friday.
Georgia Tech finished tied with Virginia for 13th place.
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
