The Importance of Vanessa Panousis

Nov 15, 2013; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies fans cheer. The Hokies defeated the Western Carolina Catamounts 79-61 at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

The Virginia Tech women’s basketball program had some struggles last season as they went 4-12 in the ACC and were 14-16 overall on the season. The Hokies were led by forward Uju Ugoka who led the Hokies in points and rebounds with 18.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game this past season. Virginia Tech had three players average over 10 points per game last season and only one of those players is returning.

That player is Vanessa Panousis.

Panousis was highly rated coming out of Australia after being the captain of the Australia U-17 team in 2012 and being a member of the U-19 team at the 2013 FIBA World Championships. Panousis decided to take the next logical step and play in a stronger league as she chose to come join the Virginia Tech Hokies.

Vanessa Panousis would be the only player to start all 30 games last season and she did that as a freshman which is quite impressive. Panousis was the Hokies’ second-leading scorer last season averaging 12.4 points per game which was largely due to her free throw percentage of 81.3% last season. Panousis also averaged just over 4 assists per game as a freshman and is a very complete point guard.

Entering next season, Vanessa Panousis will be the critical player to the success of the Hokies and as her past shows, she has the skills to step up and be the leader for the Hokies. Panousis will be relied on as the Hokies look to start a turnaround and the sophomore point guard has the talent to start that turnaround. Panousis will be the key player for Virginia Tech Women’s Basketball team entering this upcoming season.