Notre Dame beats Virginia Tech to advance to ACC Championship Game

For the second time in nine days, the Virginia Tech women's basketball team faced Notre Dame. In South Bend, Indiana on Feb. 29, the Irish beat the Hokies, 71-58, with Elizabeth Kitley in the lineup. Saturday in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament, Tech was missing Kitley, but once again, Notre Dame was able to beat Tech to advance to the championship game Sunday with a balanced scoring production.

Virginia Tech had to work hard shorthanded Friday to beat Miami by eight points, but against Notre Dame, scoring slumps did in the Hokies, who hope to get Kitley back in a couple of weeks in the NCAA Tournament. Here are some observations after the Hokies dropped to 24-7.

• Leading by 10 at halftime, the Irish pulled away in the third quarter and opened up a lead that peaked at 27, 52-25. Notre Dame began the second half on a 19-2 run and that was she wrote.
• Notre Dame's stars stepped up with Sonia Citron scoring 19 points and seven rebounds. Maddy Westbeld had 18 points and Hannah Hidalgo had 15 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
• Olivia Summiel had one of her better games of the season with 10 points and 16 rebounds. Since moving into the starting role this season, the Wake Forest transfer has been a good addition to the lineup.
• Georgia Amoore had 24 points to join Summiel in double figures and Cayla King was the next closest with six.
• Virginia Tech shot 30% from the floor, 21-for-70, and 29% from behind the arc going 8-for-28.

Virginia Tech now heads back to Blacksburg and gets some time off with the NCAA Tournament pairings being announced next Sunday. The time off will give players a chance to reset and hope for good news in terms of Kitley returning. After beating Miami Friday, the Hokies should host the first and second rounds for the second straight season.