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03/27/23 10:32:00
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03/27 22:30 CDT Va Tech women headed to 1st Final Four after topping Ohio St
Va Tech women headed to 1st Final Four after topping Ohio St
By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer
SEATTLE (AP) --- Elizabeth Kitley scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds,
Georgia Amoore added 24 points and top-seeded Virginia Tech advanced to the
Final Four for the first time in school history with an 84-74 win over No. 3
seed Ohio State in the Seattle 3 Regional final on Monday night.
For the seventh time in the past 10 Final Fours there will be a first-time
participant and it's the champions of the ACC, adding another accomplishment to
the best season in school history.
Playing in its first regional final, Virginia Tech (30-4) won its 15th straight
game and will head to the Final Four having not lost in more than two months.
The Hokies will face LSU in the national semifinals on Friday in Dallas.
Kitley, the Hokies 6-foot-6 center and leading scorer this season, took over on
the interior in the second half. She scored the first seven points of the
fourth quarter and her three-point play gave Virginia Tech a 70-60 lead.
Amoore hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to push the lead to 13. Ohio State
pulled within six in the final minute, but the Hokies were nearly perfect at
the foul line down the stretch.
Amoore shook off the scare of a potential leg injury in the first half to
scored 16 points in the second half. She had a career-high 29 in the regional
semifinal win over Tennessee. Cayla King added 12 points, all in the first half
for the Hokies.
Taylor Mikesell led Ohio State (28-8) with 25 points, but 19 of those came in
the first half. Mikesell didn't score the first 16 minutes of the second half
before hitting a 3-pointer with 3:35 remaining.
Jacy Sheldon scored 19 and Big Ten freshman of the year Cotie McMahon added 18.
But the pressure defense that Ohio State used to befuddle UConn into 25
turnovers in the regional semifinal was easily handled by Amoore and the Hokies
in the opening minutes and mostly abandoned by the Buckeyes.
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