CHARLOTTESVILLE — The Virginia Tech women’s basketball team was without its best player for the final three quarters Thursday night, but the Hokies still won handily.

Georgia Amoore and Aisha Sheppard combined for 41 points and nine 3-pointers to help the Hokies thrash Virginia 71-42 at John Paul Jones Arena.

Tech center Elizabeth Kitley left the game with 1:49 left in the first quarter. Tech coach Kenny Brooks said she got kneed in the groin.

“She’s very tender,” Brooks said. “She got hit there one time before, a couple weeks back, so we just out of precaution kept her out. … It just became sore.”


She spent the rest of the first half in the locker room. Kitley emerged from the locker room for the start of the second half but spent the entire second half sitting on the Tech bench.

Kitley walked gingerly, with help, after the game. She walked in between strength and conditioning coach Greg Werner and another man, with one arm around Werner and her other arm around the other man.

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“She’s very tender,” Brooks said. “She’ll get treatment around the clock.”

The Hokies (15-5, 7-2) are now idle until Feb. 3.

“It’s a blessing that we have this bye, so she’ll have a couple extra days to do nothing,” Brooks said.


Kitley entered the game ranked second in the ACC in scoring (18.5 ppg), rebounding (10.7 rpg) and field-goal percentage (54.1%). She entered the game ranked first in the ACC in blocks (3.0 bpg) and third in minutes (33.8 mpg).

She is one of 25 players on the midseason watch list for the Wooden Award, which goes to the nation’s top player. She was one of 15 players named this week to the watch list for the Naismith defensive player of the year award.

“We just took [her exit] as motivation,” said Amoore, who had 21 points and four 3-pointers. “She’s obviously a big part of what we do, so for her to be out, … mentally we were just doing it for Liz. So I think that’s why we rallied together.”


The Hokies, who led 20-10 when Kitley left the game, were still able to record their most lopsided win in the history of the series. Tech improved to 14-51 in the series; its most lopsided victory in the series had been a 66-46 win at UVa in February 2016.

“Extremely proud of our kids … in the face of adversity,” Brooks said. “We had to readjust throughout the whole basketball game. We scrapped a lot of the stuff that we were going to do.”

Sheppard had 20 points and five 3-pointers. Azana Baines grabbed 11 rebounds.

“Liz is our sister … so of course it affects us,” Sheppard said. “But in the moment, we know that we’ve got to get this win for her and then we can worry about what’s happening.”


Amandine Toi had 13 points for last-place UVa (3-14, 0-7), which lost its eighth straight game. UVa has not scored more than 56 points in any game of this skid.

The 42 points were the fewest UVa has ever scored in this series. Virginia shot just 34.7% from the field and committed 19 turnovers.

The Hokies made 11 3-pointers and outrebounded UVa 38-31.

Virginia Tech swept the regular-season series for the first time since Dennis Wolff’s Hokies did so in the 2015-16 season. The Hokies beat UVa 69-52 in Blacksburg on Jan. 18.

The Hokies had also won their last visit to John Paul Jones Arena in January 2020. This is the first time Tech has won two straight games in Charlottesville since Beth Dunkenberger’s Hokies recorded back-to-back wins here in February 2006 and January 2007.

The Hokies finished the first quarter on a 14-1 run to take a 20-10 lead into the second quarter. Kitley had six points, five rebounds and two blocks in the quarter. Tech shot 50% from the field in the first quarter to UVa’s 30%. UVa had six turnovers in the quarter.

Virginia Tech led 33-23 at halftime.

UVa cut the lead to 36-29 with 7:47 left in the third quarter, but Tech went on a 14-0 run to build a 50-29 cushion with 3:57 left in the third. Sheppard sank three 3-pointers in the run, while Amoore had a layup and a 3-pointer.

The Hokies led 57-35 through three quarters. They shot 57.1% from the field in the third quarter to UVa’s 35.7%. Tech was 6 of 8 from 3-point range in the quarter.

Before the game, UVa announced it had added UConn transfer Mir McLean. The sophomore forward/guard received an NCAA waiver granting her immediate eligibility. She made her UVa debut in Thursday's game, scoring 11 points.

The 5-foot-11 McLean played in 24 games for the Huskies as a freshman last season. She played in just three of the team’s first eight games this season, seeing only eight minutes of action, before UConn announced on Dec. 13 that she had entered the transfer portal. She committed to UVa later that month.

McLean averaged 2.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in her UConn career. She was named a McDonald’s All-American and the Maryland Gatorade player of the year as a high school senior in 2020.