The women’s basketball team defeated the Hokies of Virginia Tech 61-47 to improve to 18-5 on the season. With the win over an ACC foe, Tech improved to 4-3 in conference play.
All four of the Jackets’ conference wins have been at home, and all three of their conference losses have occurred on the road.
The Jackets started Sunday’s game off strong with a 6-2 scoring run behind two three-pointers from junior guard Alex Montgomery. Even though she only played ten minutes, Montgomery finished the game with 11 points on only nine shot attempts.
Later in the first half, with Tech up 24-17, senior forward Brigitte Ardossi battled defenders in the low post and made a tough shot while drawing a foul. She would go on to make her foul shot and give Tech a commanding 27-17 lead.
Ardossi led the Jackets with 15 points to go along with her seven rebounds, winning ACC Player of the Week for her performance.
Ardossi scored a quick two-point jumper to start the second half to give Tech a nine-point lead (33-24), and the Jackets never looked back.
Sophomore center Sasha Goodlett canned a jump shot at the 13:39 mark and junior guard Deja Foster scored the Jackets last basket of the game at the 2:06 mark.
Goodlett grabbed eight rebounds in the game, and Goodlett and Foster had 11 points each. Foster also had four assists.
Tech also got good production from its reserve players. Sophomore guard Mo Bennett led the Jackets with nine rebounds and added five points. Sophomore guard Metra Walthour distributed the ball well and had a team high seven assists.Senior forward Utahya Drye had a double-double for the visiting Hokies (12-9, 2-5) with 15 points and 11 rebounds. However, her team committed a total of 18 turnovers.
The good news for the Jackets is that they won this game. The bad news is that they will have to find a way to win a conference game on the road because their next two games are at Maryland on Friday, Feb. 5 and at Clemson on Feb. 8.
Losses to those teams would drop the Jackets below .500 in ACC play and would likely cost the Jackets their current No. 25 ranking.