BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Georgia Amoore had 24 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for the first triple-double in Virginia Tech history as the No. 9 Hokies beat Nebraska 85-54 on Thursday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Elizabeth Kitley added 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Hokies (7-0), who were playing their first game as a top-10 team since reaching No. 9 on Feb. 22, 1999.
“We looked at it (the ranking), and it was cool, but there was no celebration,” Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks said. “It was back to business. They understand that with that ranking comes responsibility. Everyone is going to come after you. … We know that we’re going to get people’s best shot, but this group can handle that because they’re very, very mature.”
Amoore made 8 of 15 from the floor, including four 3-pointers. The team shot 50.8% from the field and made 10 3-pointers.
“I realized with about two minutes left in the game, and we had a timeout, and everyone was like, ‘You need two more rebounds,’” Amoore said. “Honestly, it was a good game, but it (the triple-double) wasn’t something that was on my mind. I just wanted to win.
“It feels really good, of course. I love being a Hokie, and it’s great my name is carved along side of that, but I’m just glad we got the win.”
Brooks said that Amoore was coming off one of her worst practices Tuesday.
“She could not make a shot. It was comical. She finally made one, and she made a gesture to the basket, and I won’t tell you what it was, but she was really that frustrated,” he said. “So we watched the film, and I brought her in on Wednesday and we shot. We talked about shooting, shooting, shooting. She came out here today, and she was phenomenal. To get a triple-double is just unbelievable. Very, very proud of her.”
Virginia Tech used a 9-0 run midway through the first quarter to grab a double-digit lead and then a 20-0 run in the second half to blow out the Cornhuskers. The Hokies led by double digits the entire second half.
Isabelle Bourne paced Nebraska (5-3) with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
TAKEAWAYS
Nebraska: Two of the Cornhuskers’ three losses this season are to top-15 teams (No. 9 Virginia Tech, No. 13 Creighton), and in all three losses, they shot worse than 35% from the floor. They face another challenge Sunday when they open Big Ten play at No. 20 Maryland.
Virginia Tech: The Hokies are an experienced and deep team and should be a tough out in ACC play. They have an interesting matchup at Tennessee coming up in a game that will be their first true road test of the season.
UP NEXT
Nebraska: The Cornhuskers play at No. 20 Maryland on Sunday.
Virginia Tech: The Hokies play at Tennessee on Sunday.
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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
