The Ladies play LSU tonight in their first final four appearance ever. LSU was the 3 seed in the Greenville 2 region. VT was the 1 seed in Seattle 3 region. In the last ranking LSU was #9, the Hokies #4. LSU is favored by 2 points with the over/under at 133.5. The game will be on ESPN at 7 PM; also on ESPN2 with Sue Bird and Dianna Taurasi providing commentary. Both channels start the evening with a pregame show at 6PM. The game is at American Airlines Center in Dallas, capacity 19,200. The cheapest tickets are $212; close to the court are over $3000. Plenty of seats still available in all price ranges.
LSU is 32-2 with losses to South Carolina on Feb 12 by 24 and Tennessee in the SEC tournament on Mar 4 by 2. They have victories over #24 Tennessee, RV Ole Miss during the season and #8 Utah in the NCAA Tournament. I think our schedule was tougher. We beat Tennessee 2 times, #20 UNC(twice), RV Louisville (twice), #13 Duke(twice), and RV NC State(twice), FSU, and S. Dakota State. And #12 Ohio State to win our region.
The LSU roster will be a matchup problem for the Hokies. They start 6'3" Angel Reese and 6'4" LsDazhia Williams. It will be interesting to see how the Hokies defend those two. LSU has gone 8 deep into their roster the last two games. Angel Reese fouled out of both games.
LSU has three starters scoring in double digits and a fourth at 9.4 ppg. Reese is the primary threat at 23.2 ppg. Poole at 43% from three and Morris and Johnson at 34% are threats from beyond the arc. However against Miami they were 1 for 12 from three and against Utah, they were only 3 for 12. They only shot 30% overall against Miami and only 41% against Utah. On the season, they have won the rebound battle by 16. They outrebounded Miami by 14 and Utah by 4. They beat Miami by 12 and Utah by 3.
Fouls could be a big factor in this game. We don't have the bench to lose a lot of players to foul trouble. And we will probably have Soule guarding a much taller player. On the other hand LSU has shown a tendency to have foul problems in their last two games.
In the Miami game, LSU was called for 17 fouls and Miami for 24. Miami finished the game with 3 players with 4 fouls and 3 players with 3 fouls. For LSU Reese fouled out and Williams finished the game with 4 fouls. We don't have the bench to handle that level of fouling. In the Utah game LSU had 22 fouls and Utah had 19. Utah had one player foul out; for LSU, Reese, Poole, and Johnson fouled out. Let's hope we can keep most of our players on the court for most of the game.
Kitley will probably see less double and tripe teaming this game, since LSU has the two bigs to defend her. If she can play well against those two, the Hokies should have a good chance to advance. Our shooters from beyond the arc need to be on their game to keep LSU from sagging down to prevent the pass to Liz. King and Amoore hitting from three could open this game up for the Hokies. And if Traylor and Gregg could add a little offense, this game could go very well and Kitley could add another double double to her resume.
LET'S GO HOKIES!
Comments
LET'S GO !!!
HOKIES!!!
With fair/impartial officiating I think Tech wins with about a 12 point edge. They have one really star player and we have two with a great supporting cast of four additional women. I am hoping if needed, the bench steps up.
However, it doesn't seem like we have every really gotten fair or impartial officiating. Too often it seems like officials are calling fouls to keep games close (See Tennessee during tournament) or rewarding "special" players. How often have we seen/heard Kitley is a bigger girl so they can be rougher against her? It doesn't help that there is already at least a couple talking heads talking heads talking about an all SEC championships "Because it means more..." I really hope South Carolina loses tonight and Tech gets to play Iowa.
Go Hokies!
If Tech plays Iowa I hope they have back up nets available, gonna burn through some with the combined amount of shooters on the floor.
Take the over
...and take the under tonight.
First to 60 wins
12 point edge in the Final Four over Angel Reese? I love these Hokies but that's a bit rich for me
I'm so anxiously excited and nervous for tonight. But I know they are going to give 100% and win or lose, I don't think we could ask for a better group to be representing the Hokies on a national level.
LFG!!
Some neat stuff to check out before the game. This is a cool thread highlighting great coaching play designs in the women's game (check out the whole thread). We're highlighted a couple of times
Do they have one of the Memphis post-game handshake line punch?
I'll see myself out...
I hope this game is clean. I worry, because of LSU's bench, hard fouls will be aimed at Georgia and Liz in order "to take them out."
Refs have swallowed their whistles and have allowed some egregious fouls occur.
Bless our ladies and Coach. We are so proud.
i woke up to a whiff of bourbon in the air. I feel like tonight is going to be a fun night
Interview from yesterday with a nice follow up after the interview with the hosts
Wait - why is Cattoor sitting with the Brooks' family?
He's Hokie family.
Isn't he dating one of Brooks' daughters? Maybe someone can confirm.
Yes, he said it himself not long ago in an interview.
Supposedly the middle daughter, Chloe, who is on the team.
OK - that's what I assumed from the clip but wasn't sure. Thanks!
I love this man. He's everything that's right about what it means to be college coach, and such a perfect fit for what we strive to be about at Virginia Tech.
I do wish the Hokie women would get more national respect. The day after the Elite Eight finished, PTI led the show with the Women's Final Four and this was the synopsis from both Kornheiser and Wilbon:
South Carolina? Most dominant team
Iowa? Caitlin Clark is amazing
LSU? Any team coached by Kim Mulkey is a threat
Virginia Tech? I'm not familiar with them
It's a microcosm of the coverage all tournament. The host of Around The Horn called VT "the #1 seed no one wants to talk about" before their post-Elite 8 panel where...they proceeded not to mention us.
ESPN has made a big push to talk about women's hoops more, but if you're gonna be lazy, why talk about it at all? Like, isn't it condescending to say, "we're gonna cover more women's bball, but we're gonna half-ass it."
IDK, I just think a team that wins the ACC tournament, lands a #1 seed, and makes it to the Final Four deserves better than the coverage they've received, especially since the only other #1 seed to make it this far on the men's or women's side is South Carolina.
100% disrespectful. I love it. Let them count us out, they have all tournament, and we keep winning. I love being the underdog.
But yeah, if you're gonna cover women's hoops more at least do it right.
Let's see what they have to say in 5 minutes when the (1 hour!) pregame show starts. I'd fucking love it if they gloss over us.
Those ladies white warm up jackets are 🔥
Kenny brooks just channeled gene Hackman in Hoosiers. 'We measured the floor and it's 94 feet and 10 feet to the baskets.'.
It's VT's first final four EVER.
I LIKE the role of the dark horse. Sure they deserve more coverage, but that's not really how sports talk works. Sports talk praises the has-beens, not the up-and-comers. I'm pretty sure it's a law.
Just win and it will come!
I'll be at Victory Field tonight following on my phone. Coincidence? I think not.
This game is going to come down to two things -- foul calls and threes. Not just that we need to make ours, but that LSU just doesn't shoot many. They combined for 507 threes, while our 6-woman rotation has launched 673. Their two most likely shooters have combined for fewer attempts than Amoore alone. Amoore definitely has a highlight splash in her bag, but I can't help but think that the 28.5% (8 for 28) over the last two rounds needs to be trend upward
I just learned that Angel goes by 'Bayou Barbie'.. Hokies by 50
I just picked up a Popeyes spicy chicken sandwich for dinner. FTW. Their orange color is pretty damn close to burnt orange. It's science.
Just watched ATH.
Both of the younger panelists picked the Hokies, both of the older panelists picked LSU.
Love this video especially who they got to narrate it. All of Hokie Nation is behind this team.
That gave me chills!!!
LET'S GO!!!! ❤️🦃🏀
Hit me in the Feels!
HOKIES!!!
Narrated by Bam Bam Chancellor? Hell yeah! let's fucking go!
Oh now you want to cover us...GTFO
I don't tweet but those that do should bury the pathetic athletic about this.
To be honest, I'm content with just ignoring them.
Like Dmhbeaver said, the rebounding battle will be noteworthy. I'm really interested to see what happens when LSU misses shots (hopefully, they'll miss a lot of them). LSU ranks 2nd in offensive rebound percentage, and VT ranks 6th in defensive rebound percentage. If we can limit LSU's 2nd chance opportunities, I like our chances. If they get 3-4 cracks at scoring in one possession, it'll be tough to overcome.
OK, very cool.
This is AWESOME, except WTF DHall....'former' Hokie? No such thing!!!
LFG!!!!!
It's supposed to be on plus also. That's why I can see it! Big winds tonight and the electricity will probably go out! Let's go girls!
I just saw on the ESPN pregame for the first time this whole fashion thing for the LSU coach. I dislike her already. Really? I feel like I'm watching entertainment tonight. FFS focus on the game. I wanna destroy these clowns.
Chics at lsu don't have crabs. They have crayfish. That's funny and I don't care who you are. Let's go!
Man those videos got me hype Gokies!
Let's goooooo!
HOKIES!!!!!!
Just got my Hokie playing cards from giving day. Go Hokies!
1 on Reese. Gotta run at her. She's a foul waiting to happen.
Love the energy so far
Amoore's shot is off early, dang
What is that pink thing at courtside?
Oh, I think it's the LSU coach.
Ice cold right now
Just gotta see some of these shots fall
Sorry I haven't been around much since baseball/softball started but....
LET'S GO HOKIES!!!
Get this
They are tight. Need to keep it close through the end of the first and they'll get going.
Need to settle the nerves and get the shooting on track. Still well in it but inside Soule may need some help if she can't get her girl in foul trouble.
Well, it's becoming obvious I'll have to listen to this game in silence. These announcers are so hard for LSU
Would like to see the defense sag a bit. At least until LSU hits a couple of 3's
3 jump balls so far. This is gonna be a fight.
And they're calling those tie ups really quickly.
And Kitley is sooo damn loose with the ball.
Here we go again. Must be the same officials that don't understand charge/block. Gregg was set and waiting.
Here we go georgia.!
Wow. Lobo calling for us.
Kitley is hitting the deck so often
Some of the strangest foul calls lol
Bullshitcall on Soule (the first one)
These fouls vs held balls are SUS
Can't afford to lose Soule.
Welp... If the officials are going to call the game like this it will be next to impossible to win.
Letting LSU play very physical, that's not good
How is that not a foul slamming into king?
How was that not a foul on #45? She clocked King
LSU didn't run away in the first. Just got to run our offense. The shots will fall
And we are 1 for 9 from 3. That'll change. They haven't even attempted one. This pink taffeta sunburned cupie doll of a coach for lsu needs to get spanked.
Pretty rough start, but only down 3. Hopefully the girls will settle down a bit.
How was that not a foul?
Edit: Oh, I see others noticed, too...
Remember, it's only a foul if the Maroon and Orange tackle the opposing player....
WTF is that old bag wearing? Must have a clown act after the game. The shots will fall!
Only down three shooting 1 for 9 from three and 25% overall. Settle down and we should be ok.
Played bad, questionable calls, and cold shooting. Only down by 3? I'll take it. We'll get into the rhythm.
I really don't like Mulky.
If you look up "Karen" in the dictionary, her picture shows up.
My wife is Karen...and an incredible person. That's not a great term.
Just a joke my man, no harm intended.
Shrug emoji
Reese with a wicked hook on Gregg
They ain't called the "chicken wing" all year.
That should be a T for tripping.
Amazed they didn't call a walk. Or offense foul on King.
We really need to focus on stopping the ball down low. Let them shoot outside until it's a problem.
3s are starting to fall Let's gooo
King gets undercut and they call a walk. BOTH announcers call BS.
WTAF???
Traveling while you're in the air on a rebound and getting submarined. I've seen it all now.
Even Brooks can't find his ice cave over that call.
9 turnovers but 4 by whistle
All ball block foul called next 😂 love hating on refs... where's my man always complaining about people complaining about refs?
Wow, the refs appear to be complete Bullshit in this game.
Kitley getting mugged. No fouls
Kitley gets two quick fouls for going straight up and being at least two feet away.
They gave the second one to Amoore.
The complete lack of any type of aggression by Liz Kitley inside is going to be the difference in this game
To be fair, she's in a pretty unfavorable position. She's getting a whistle running away from the ball. There's no way she can be more aggressive. The officials have taken her completely out of the game.
Yep
LSU pushing Kitley out from the basket.
Starting to slip away
Can't buy a basket tonight
When half of your shots are coming from beyond the arc, I don't know what this team is expecting to happen
I wanna punch JonBenet Ramsey in the face.
"A candy color clown they call the sandman, tiptoes to my room every night..."
That song goes through my head whenever they show her. Reminds me of a Blue Velvet character.
I'm dead 😂
Do I win the internet today?
Burke?
VT can't keep shooting from half court.
Yes, I know LSU is physical and they're only calling half of the obvious fouls on them.
Still, you have to power it in.
Whistles have been absolute shit so far but our defense with Soule is lacking they are getting anything and everything right now. Offense still looks lost at times they need to calm it down and run the offense.
These refs are struggling today (both ways tbh) but we've gotta hit these open shots.
Refs dogwater again. Terrible fouls called on us, horrible misses on them. Missed a travel on Liz if I'm being honest. I hate basketball refs.
Yes, Liz traveled. But that's what happens when the defender has her forearm in your back and pushes while you're pulling away.
LSUs coach looks like she asked to speak with the manager at a TGI Fridays
She looks like the kind of person the manager at TGIF actively avoids.
She's got Plantation Couture on lock
She may have spent a little too much time in the sun/tanning bed. She needs an ironing.
They haven't even attempted a 3. We need to do something different inside.
straight up harrassment of Kitley
Because the refs are reluctant to call fouls.
I don't think I've ever seen King miss a jump shot that badly.
TRAYLOR!!!!!
"The whistle finally comes in"
Traylor's taking over!
TRAYLOR AGAIN!!!
THERE WE GO
The LSU stared daggers into Traylor after her layup.
Let lsu shoot 3s all night and don't help. We got this if our shots fall
The move to the zone defense is so good. They hit nothing outside, clog the middle and see what happens.
This. They've hit nothing from 3 for 2 games.
Im ready to go to war for this team.
Great move by Brooks to go 2-3 zone there. Huge momentum shift. IDK how long we can stick to it tho. I'd imagine LSU would start to really eat up on the boards eventually.
This is the biggest difference between our men's and women's staff's. Brooks and company are not afraid to tweak things even if just to cause opponents to think. Mike Young rarely if ever employs a defensive scheme change. Really wish it would cross over. That and OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING. Hokies have 11 offensive boards in a half. The men only had 6 complete games with 11+ offensive boards.
First lead of the final four.
Vt with the lead!
Edit: at the half!
If we do t give it up...we win.
Big if true.
This shot clock violation confuses me. The call it too early. Doesn't it just have to leave their hand before the buzzer?
We also need to have some more awareness. If you're going run the shot clock down, then when you get to the end, the shot you have is what you have. We've gotten to about 2 seconds left and then decided we wanted to try a different look
Let's fucking go! 5 on 8 ain't shit
Like I said, that quarter swung in a BIG way once Liz Kitley started busting their asses
That's how you close a half need more energy in both ends like that in the second half!
LSU really liked to showboat and play to the crowd when they were up
their tone changed very fast
Shit was awful cute when Angel Reese was doing the "too small" taunting in Soules face, she's been very quiet lately though
11-0 to end half. Statement.
Awesome end to the first half!
Note: Liz Kitley needs to be much more decisive when she gets her hands on the ball. Too much holding onto the ball.
Hokies in the crowd sound LOUD!!!
Brooks is a good coach.
Mulky reminds me of Dabo. A big mouth who loves the spotlight. When things don't go right, yells and blames players.
That was an excellent close.
What's with these announcers?
They're paid by ESPN.
Why?
What do you mean, I can't even hear them ;)
Good call.
Unreal how many empty seats there are. All through the first half really surprised by how many Grey seats you could see.
When I saw the ticket prices I wondered how many empty seats there would be.
They did that weird divide up into four teams thing. Think that's uSC section.
Something tells me it won't be nearly as empty for this second game after ours
You know what?
Let em.
If we happen to hold on here, I want our women to go into the championship knowing they were an absolute afterthought...an also ran.
And get angry.
Keys to 2nd half:
Cut down on turnovers. They've outscored us 13 - 4 on points off turnovers.
Keep Reese off the boards. She's only had 2 rebounds so far. Got to keep that up.
Keep them out of the paint. They've outscored us 24 - 10 on points in the paint. This is where the zone has helped. They are 0 for 3 from 3pt. Make them shoot from outside.
And lastly... we have got to get the ball moving. We've only had 2 assist. We're leading, but only 2 assist in the half is highly unusual.
Welp
we had 18 total turnovers. They outscored us 9 - 6 on points off turnovers in the 2nd half. 22 - 10 for the game.
Reese got 10 rebounds in the 2nd half. 12 for the game.
They outscored us 30 - 4 in the paint in the 2nd half. 54 - 14 for the game.
They only made 3 three pointers for the game. 3 for 13.
Ended with only 8 assists. Same as them.
Interesting stat: They had 70 FG attempts to our 57. If we would have had 13 more attempts at our game 40% shooting that would have been 5 more made baskets. That's 10 to 15 more points.
So nice see us on the right side of a 16-0 run.
Every time I see their coach, the song "Candy colored clown" plays.
I think I may be in a David Lynch movie.
But at least it helps me tune out the announcers.
Agree with each of your points. LSU coach probably has a line of pickup trucks lined up outside her double wide on Saturday nights.
Wow, Traylor.
Those Hokies will get after you.
Congratulations to the all time 3 point scorer in NCAA Tournament History
GEORGIA AMOORE
we've reached peak "my dog thinks I'm mad at him because of the cheering" mode
28-7 run we're on right now. Wow
Got to watch out for the reach-ins. Especially from the backside and after rebounds or baseline inbounds.
Gotta run at Williams and Reese here. 3 and 2 fouls on those two.
Traylor is so smooth with those fast break layups
Reese is living in the lane. They won't call 3 seconds.
She has gotten away with anything.
Good coach would take Poole out and let her cool off. Instead Mulky leaves her in and yells at the ref more
That's the thug life.
Kim Mulkey giving big "villain in the hunger games" vibes.
I think CMY should hire Kenny Brooks to teach our mens team how to box out.
Got a call at the wrong time. What was the technical for?
LSU player (Poole) yelled at the ref in frustration.
That wasn't a foul on Gregg. It was walk in Reece.
Not the phantom 10 second (took 7-8 game clock seconds).
Super weird call there... Walking the ball up the court with zero pressure and the whistle blows as she gets to halfcourt.
Especially after the second intentional trip of the game on that play.....
I screamed bullshit live. At the commercial break, re-wound it, rewatched...it was bullshit. It was 9 seconds at the absolute best. And 9 was with her foot absolutely across the line.
What's bullshit is the display on the shot clock only changes when it gets below the whole number. So it will show "20" until the time is below 20.0. So when the ref blew the whistle, the clock showed 20 seconds meaning 10s could not have elapsed
9 point lead after 3Q is impressive. Especially the way we started the game.
Traylor and Kitley both 1 board away from double-doubles
Good stat, but let's get the DUB overall too 🙏
I need a more relaxing hobby.
may I recommend blindfolded unicycle knife juggling trapeze?
Women's basketball ref?
No thanks.
Watching HOKIE sports is how I get my heart rate up!
Iis it just me or do you basically have to get knocked over or hacked so hard it is audible in the arena to get a foul called in WBB?
Yes, if you're a HOKIE!
Foul Situation:
Tech: Soule 3, Gregg 2, Amoore King Kitley 1
LSU: Williams 3, Reese, Johnson, Poole with 2, Morris 1
I said an hour ago to run at Williams and reese.
Good timeout kenny.
Brooks finally trying to get them to call the hook in Reece.
It's so blatant and obvious idk how she gets away with it constantly.
I guess do it until they call it.
I said it earlier. They ain't called the "chicken wing" all year!
Gregg helping too slow, gotta get King back in there
Liz's turnovers either come from hesitation (mostly in first half) or her hand getting hacked every. Single. Time.
Really??? A fractional, literally imperceptible 10-second violation, and on Kayana Traylor, the single most hectic player on the floor? The officiating in women's basketball is sometimes a real blight on the game.
Sally Jenkins, Washington Post.
Officiating in the women's game is consistently awful.
oof need to get momentum back
Damn. We went cold. Need some buckets quick.
Tough game to play.
Very physical LSU, and they don't call fouls on them.
4th quarter meltdown in full effect
Timeout was two possessions too late
Sloppy play. Where's Kitley?
Looking a little sloppy atm. Need to reign things back in on both sides of the court.
I don't understand why the fuck we went away from what was working. I love Kenny Brooks but him seemingly not having the conversation with Amoore to chill with the heroics and Kitley disappearing again is causing this 4th quarter to collapse in a hurry.
A combo of Kitley playing scared and the refs doing nothing to help her has been detrimental
She has been getting good looks, just not hitting them. We do need to work the ball inside out more.
playing scared. no one wants to shoot.
We're playing LSU's game at the moment.
Just feels like I've watched VT sports as a whole write this disappointing chapter before
Deja vu
Feels like Deja Vu all over again.
Why can't we have nice things???
We gotta come together here and get a stop into a good offensive possession. Felt like qe were too cute to start 4q
Soule needs to put the team on her back and carry us to the win.
Kitley needs a lesson from Mutts on passing out of the double team. Only thing lacking.
Positives:
We need Soule against a very physical LSU.
FUCK THATS A FUCKING FOUL ON GREGG
I could've sworn that was an elbow that gave her space
Angel Reece getting it on the third try.
ice
cold
Gregg pulled down from behind and no foul
Reece literally went over Gregg's back (throwing her to the floor). Then elbowed her in the face next possession. No call on either
How that wasn't over the back is fucking beyond me
Not sure why we went away from the zone. But that might be a wrap
That's the ballgame
Just an unreal choke in the 4th
3 Points in the Quarter...quit blaming the refs...team fell apart
Yup.
Kitley just got mugged again with no call
Get in the damn game Kitley! Too soft.
yo we've got Gregg launching 3s now
unbelievable
Sorry but 0% chance I watch the natty now
gregg is one of the highest 3% on the team
Kitley just got beat on her head. No call
And had to stop okay because she got elbowed in the nose. Again.
An absolute collapse by this team. Holy shit
Hilariously bad coaching from Brooks to close this out. A damn shame from his run.
Another high stakes game where VT needed it to end in the third quarter.
Kitley completely oblivious to passing out of double and triple teams
Put Soule back in
Brooks needs to get a technical. They're mauling us in the lane and ref have no interest in offensive fouls.
That's a mystery. Just like abandoning the zone.
How many fouls does reece have?
3
Yeah, unfortunately Kenny Brooks made a fatal error here in the fourth going away from the zone. Horrible decision.
How the FUCK does our player end up on the ground again with no foul call.
This is a fucking joke.
Like the 3rd time this quarter
LSU went full thug and the refs won't call anything.
Out-coached and out-physicalled. Really no other way to put it
These girls have played one hell of a game. Officials are awful. Kenny Brooks made a fatal decision to go away from the zone, but other than that it's been masterful.
You can downvote it all you want but Kenny Brooks not putting a lid on the barrage of 3 point brick shooting and going away from the zone inexplicably in addition to allowing them to dominate the boards and the paint in the 4th quarter, it really can't be argued
Our players are getting mugged under the basket, no call. That's not basketball. Nothing to do with physicality.
It absolutely does. The officiating has everything to do with the flow of a game and if you don't adjust (we never did, even with the lead) you're going to have a difficult time. LSU took complete advantage of it and we didn't. They mugged us, sure. But that's physicality part I'm talking about. No argument could be made that we even tried to "mug" them in the paint
Lol if we had tried to mug them back our starters would have fouled out.
Case in point, the second an LSU player hit the deck, foul called. 4 of our players have the same thing happen, choked on the whistle. We were forced to play finesse or not at all.
So does Women's basketball not allow for reviews for flagrants? because there have been about 5 hits to players faces with no call whatsoever
The refs don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.
They're only up by 6. Maybe they shouldn't celebrate the win just yet.
Moving screen. Lmfao I'm done. Fuck these refs. Brooks with questionable coaching but don't know what our girls are supposed to do.
I hope every single one of these officials stub their pinky toe every day for the rest of their lives.
spending way too much time setting up Liz for a 2 pointer
Acting astonished that running into Kitley as she goes up for a shot is a foul. If that doesn't tell you how this game has gone then idk what to say
So close, but then the Tech karma arrived.
More like the refs arrived, blindfolded.
oh hey someone in purple hits the ground and it's a foul all of a sudden
Powers That Be wanted LSU/SC in the final and they'll get it.
so we'll just see a replay of SCAR destroying them again eh? boring
Reese is gonna get wrecked next game. I'm gonna watch that.
We are The Chokies! So many years! Good run through.
Screw you, buddy. No Hokie calls any team the chokies. screw the F off..
Say what you will about Mulke, but she works those refs relentlessly.
I doubt Reece will get away with her fouls against uSC. They'll eat her.
Great season for these girls. As all things VT these days, we are a finesse team. Anytime we faced a physical opponent it was a difficult outing. LSU is physical and deep - tough matchup. Kenny Brooks was brilliant all game, up until he decided to go back to Man2Man defense.
Great year! Made history! Made VT proud!
Go Hokies!
Is Liz ready for WNBA? Any have any sauces if she's coming back?
No. She's way too finesse for the WNBA. Loose hands... Lot's of turnovers...
Agreed. She won't do well in the WNBA.
Inbounds play to Kitley when you are down 8?
It looked like she was a safety valve option fwiw
Still in all time amazing season! Sucks the last quarter and a half went the way it did, but can't take away any of their accomplishments.
Amoore was cold tonight.
That third quarter felt so good this 4th quarter was brutal though. Gutted for this team for the way this ends
I'm proud of our girls and coaches for what theyve done. Final 4 out of like 300 teams. All the last minute negative Nancy's on here calling it a choke job can fuck off. Did I want to go to the Final? Yeah. I'm sad about it, but I'm not gonna talk shit about our girls or Kenny Brooks.
I Dont downvote ever, but anyone talking shit can kiss my ass. This team killed it this year.
Can't it be both? Can't we be proud and happy of the season but frustrated by how that 4th unfolded? It was a comedy of errors.
Yes. Fair to be frustrated. But people shouldn't start talking shit about players and coaches. It's incredibly hard to win a natty in anything, and I for one will not tolerate belittling the season long accomplishments of this team as a whole and indulividually. Many benchmarks were set by both and these should not be trivialized by last minute emotional gut reactions to a loss that ends our season at the pinnacle of the sport.
I'm a little worried I might have nightmares about Mulke yelling at me in my sleep tonight.
Or convincing the refs that I'm not getting fouled, as I'm thrown to the ground.
I blame Brian for writing the "destiny" article.
/S
Told ya.
/s
Kitley should come back next year.
Can she? I thought she was out of eligibility. Amoore better come back.
She has her covid year still
I can't keep track any more, so who is out of eligibility? Soule?
Owusu, Soule, and Traylor are out of eligibility
King, Kitley, and Gregg have their COVID year decision to make
Ouch. Traylor, too? I didn't know that.
I was becoming her new biggest fan.
Gregg may be done as well if this tweet is any indication.
It was posted on April Fools Day so maybe she is gaming us but I doubt that's the case.
Honestly I understand when the kids have their degree and want to just start their life
Shit. We had them.
Hell of a ride, Hokies, Hell of a ride.
Oh well, maybe next year...
I've been saying that since 1976.
Amazing season, ladies. So proud. What a run!
I like that we're smiling and classy.
Good game Hokies. Thanks for the ride.
Waiting for Iowa to get the same ref treatment just so USC can pants LSU in the final. It just means more...
I'm so proud of this team. They have done what no other team has done. ACC Champs. FINAL FOUR. This season is over 1 game too soon but they can work to be back next year and go all the way. Great team basketball, great basketball team. So glad I got to watch them this year.
F*ck LSU, all I got to say. They aren't half the team we are.
Rough way to end, but the women left it all out there. So proud of this team and the season!
Meanwhile
Translate pls? I dont tweet....
Owusu didn't play much after coming back from injury and as the season progressed she was disconnected more and more from the team. Her Twitter feed was devoid of Hokies news but plenty of tweets about other teams successes. Apparently the rift was wider in real life for her to post this.
Wow I missed that it was Traylor saying check the LSU bench. I am guessing she will not be back next year eligibility or not.
Doesn't seem that way, especially with Angel Reese tweeting directly at her "Free my dawg"
No I get all that....what does 'check the lsu bench' mean.....that she was actively rooting against the hokies?
Seems that way. Her and Angel Reese were teammates at Maryland before this. Although I have seen different messages on both Reese's plans and Owusu's going forward. Saw several things that indicate Owusu declared for the WNBA draft.
Kitley retweeted this as well. Must have been something really stupid going on tonight for this to have any of their focus after such a tough game.
I counted at least 7 players that either retweeted or 'liked' Kayana's tweet
I did some Twitter scouting today and evidently Owusu was actively cheering for LSU on the VT bench. Yikes.
Saw a few posts that said they kicked her off the bench mid game but can't recall looking at the bench much in second half.
Thats fucked up. If i was the coach and she did that she's going to the locker room and turning in all her VT gear and finding her own way home. Scholarship revoked on the spot as well if its legal, although it's probably not.
From past precedent, he could have put her on a bus with an assistant. Beamer did it from Bowls when players got into trouble.
She gone
Nobody can take away that we are the ACC Champions and made the final 4.
Go Ladies and enjoy your rest. For those that come back, welcome back. For those that move on, great luck in your next adventure.
I said all year I hope the ladies hang a banner right next to the Men's ACC banner and BOY DID THEY!!! ACC Champs and Final Four! I wish they won, but it was a fun tournament, most I have looked forward to watching some Hokies play in years.
Fantastic year, we had a team in the final four! Absolutely epic. They should be incredibly proud of themselves.
I'm proud of the girls. I want someone to break the drought but think this is good momentum. They had a hell of a season. Congrats Hokies!! We still get to hang a final 4 banner!
Iowa has been leading, but for some reason they are committing fouls left and right for South Carolina to get back in the game at least according to the officials.
So much for that ALL SEC final. South Carolina had no answer for Caitlin Clark. She torched them to shut Dawn Staley up.
Caitlin Clark playing the game with admin powers.
She's like the Michael Vick of WBB.
I was hoping South Carolina would go down at some point, but I was more hoping it would be at the hands of the Hokies.
Great job ladies. Frustrating the way the game went but you can't be upset with a Final Four appearance. If we get there regularly then sure more upset about a loss. But for the first time in school history for either mens or womens?? A banner will be hung. A great season.
Morning after. Still pissed at the refs. Pissed that our 3s weren't falling. Fuck the SEC. Fuck anyone who implies these ladies choked. Played a great game at the end of a great season. Did everything they needed to earn that win in a fair and just world where kitley gets the same benefits as a player who goes by bayou Barbie.
I have seen a couple articles that stated on the whole the final four were the worst officiated games of the year for women's basketball and that it is on the NCAA. They focused more on having a female officiating crew than having the best officiating crew. As bad as that sounds, I have nothing if women were part of the crew, but it should have been their best overall crews.
The NCAA would be better served ensuring the pay for officials for WBB games is the same as for MBB. There is a huge gap in pay, hence why the more talented officials end up doing MBB instead. Overall, the talent pool for WBB officials is severely lacking, and no amount of "all women officiating team" is going to make up for that. Maybe make the pay competitive for WBB to attract more talent, and thus have better officiating going forward.
"We'd like you to ref for the women's tournament"
"Great. What's the pay?"
"You'll get to be part of a historic event"
"Cool. The pay?"
"First time all women officiating team!"
"Pay?"
"What do you say?"
"...you serious, Clark?"
It turns out that "exposure" and "good-will" on a historic scale don't pay the bills! Who would have guessed! Just to note: this is a bigger problem than just the tournament officiating. And when the pool of officials from which to choose is already bush league, it's not really going to make a huge difference either way when you exclude the men from the final four. Based on what I saw during the tournament, officiating is sketchy at best for WBB, regardless of who the referee is. I'm honestly amazed there aren't more injuries in the women's games because they are allowed to be so physical. Even the talking heads would make comments like "That's a foul on Harris....or somehow it's not a foul???" and they could clearly see what everyone but the refs could see, apparently. WBB as a whole deserves better.
I think Mark Packer said it on the ACCN... Men's or Women's, the officiating crew should be required to have a mandatory post-game press conference. Just like the coaches have to answer to the media/fans as to why they did or didn't do something in the game; the refs should have to answer why or why not they made or didn't make some obvious calls. Tell us what they saw. For example: did they not see the traveling because they were looking to make sure the defenders feet were set and outside the under basket arc trying to draw the charge.
I would think the men's refs would like this as well since they could shrink their travel radius and get in the same number of games. If they are collegiate level they can surely remember and apply any differences in rules.
Or....just make the rules the same.
NCAA: Mr ltrepeter2000, that is a lucid, intelligent, well thought out idea.
Overruled.
Preaching to the choir. I would like to think the record attendance, viewership, and interest in the games will help drive that. Sadly the record complaints over the bad officiating should also help drive that.