No. 2 Duke women’s basketball falls in ACC tournament semifinal to No. 3 Virginia Tech
The difference between the 13th-ranked Duke Blue Devils and the eighth-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday was simple: One team had Georgia Amoore, and the other did not.
Amoore torched Duke, the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament, for 24 points as No. 3 Virginia Tech topped the Blue Devils 58-37 in the semifinals.
Duke’s scoring total was its lowest of the season. and it was denied what would’ve been its first trip to the ACC Tournament final since 2017. The Blue Devils (25-6) haven’t won the tournament since 2013.
“Disappointing afternoon for us. I thought Virginia Tech played really well. Really beat us in all phases,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said. “When you give (Virginia Tech) open looks, they’re probably the best team in the league at making you pay for it. Disappointing to have our run end, but really proud of my group and how they played here and how they fought.”
Virginia Tech (26-4) has now won 10 straight games and will play in the ACC Tournament title game for the first time Sunday. The Hokies will face fourth-seeded Louisville, which beat No. 1 Notre Dame 64-38 Saturday behind 15 points from Hailey Van Lith. It will be the first time since 2012 that neither of the top two seeds advanced to the tournament’s title game.
“I just knew that we really needed this win. It’s really big for our program,” Amoore said. “You know, when I committed, I had no idea what we were going to do. I didn’t even know there was an ACC Tournament, or anything like that.”
Amoore — a 5-foot-6 junior point guard from Australia — shot 9-of-16 from the floor and also notched seven assists and five rebounds to lead the Hokies. No other player from either team scored in double digits. Summerfield, N.C. native Elizabeth Kitley — the two-time ACC Player of the Year — finished with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
“She’s obviously a good point guard. We just didn’t contain her really,” Duke forward Elizabeth Balogun said of Amoore. “We’ve proven that we can guard her and we can stop her… It was more of us than her.”
Balogun led the Blue Devils with nine points and four steals. Kennedy Brown had eight points, two steals, two rebounds and two blocks.
Duke and Virginia Tech split regular season meetings, with both games turning out very differently. Duke won at home by 10 points on Jan. 26 after holding Kitley to 11.1% shooting, then the Hokies won at home on Feb. 16 behind 20 each from Kitley and Amoore.
This neutral site clash seemed to be going the way of the first game early on, with Duke forcing the Hokies into seven turnovers in the first quarter and sending double- and triple-teams at Kitley.
Still, Virginia Tech entered the second quarter with a four-point lead. Duke cut the deficit to one about midway through, but the Hokies broke off a 17-0 run to put a cushion between themselves and the Blue Devils. It was a spark powered by Amoore, who scored eight points and dished out three assists to help the Hokies build a 16-point advantage. And while Virginia Tech enjoyed that burst of offense, Duke failed to score in the final six minutes of the second quarter and committed three turnovers.
“(Kitley) getting hounded takes a lot of attention away from a lot of us on the exterior,” Amoore said. “So, just taking advantage of that and thanking her for that once the play is over, because she does take a beating. But it does open us up on the 3-point line.”
The Hokies went on to lead by as many as 20 points in the third quarter. Duke never trimmed the deficit to single digits in the second half.
Amoore’s six 3-pointers tied her season-high.
“When she’s feeling it, she just has a different look on her face,” Virginia Tech guard and Greensboro native Cayla King said. “I feel like every time the ball leaves her hands, it’s going in the goal, and I think everyone on the team has that same feeling.”
Crucial to the Hokies’ success was their ability to own the glass, as they out-rebounded the Blue Devils 41-22. Virginia Tech also held Duke to a season-worst 6.7% success rate from 3-point land.
Tip-off of the game was pushed back 36 minutes after crews at the Greensboro Coliseum had to bring out a sander to repair part of the playing surface on the arena floor.
Duke heads back to Durham to await its NCAA Tournament fate. ESPN’s latest projection has the Blue Devils in the tourney as a No. 3 seed and hosting opening weekend games at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke hasn’t hosted NCAA Tournament games since 2017.
The ACC Championship between Virginia Tech and Louisville tips off at 1 p.m. Sunday and will air live on ESPN.
This story was originally published March 4, 2023 at 5:03 PM.