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Virginia Tech women’s basketball: Hokies end NCAA Tournament drought

By Kayleigh Toney

Jan 16, 2019; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies guard Aisha Sheppard (2) looks to pass against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second half at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 16, 2019; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies guard Aisha Sheppard (2) looks to pass against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second half at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports /
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Virginia Tech women’s basketball earned an at-large bid to the 2021 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. 

It’s been a long time since a Virginia Tech women’s basketball team has gone dancing, it’s their first appearance in the tournament since 2006. Granted, if there had been a tournament last season, the Hokies most certainly would’ve heard their name called but that didn’t happen.

Tech’s season isn’t over yet. On Monday night, the Virginia Tech Hokies heard their name called for the 2021 NCAA Tournament, earning the seventh seed in the River Walk Region. They will take on the 10 seeded Marquette Golden Eagles on Sunday, March 21. The game will take place at noon ET in San Antonio, Texas.

The Hokies finished the season strong, with a 14-9 record, and were 8-8 in ACC play. They won six straight games, a program record and that stretch is really what led them to be selected by the committee on Monday.

During the middle of the season, it looked like the chances of seeing this team in the NCAA Tournament were slim. They lost seven out of eight games at the beginning of ACC play but one big win flipped a switch.

The start of the six-game stretch and the biggest game of the season came on January 28th, a game that will always be remembered in Virginia Tech women’s basketball history.

It was the Hokies’ second game in a row against NC State. The Wolfpack took a narrow 89-87 victory just four days prior.

The second meeting would be a different fate, with Virginia Tech winning in overtime, 83-71. In overtime, Tech came out on fire scoring 26 points in the period, an NCAA record. It was the first time in program history that the team picked up a win over an AP top-five program, NC State was ranked No. 2 in the country at the time.

Virginia Tech knows how to keep games close, all of their regular-season losses were by 10 or less. This is a team that is coming into the tournament hot and could surprise a lot of viewers if they can continue their hot streak.

Marquette is coming into the tournament with a 19-6 overall record and went 14-4 in the Big East. They made it to the Big East Tournament final before falling to top-ranked Connecticut. This is the Golden Eagles fourth straight NCAA appearance.

This is the first time in Virginia Tech history that both the men’s and women’s basketball programs will be competing in the NCAA Tournament in the same year.