Virginia Tech women's basketball rolls over Pittsburgh in ACC opener

The Virginia Tech women's basketball team began defense of their ACC Championship with a convincing win over Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum. It was a balanced effort for the Hokies as they had six players who finished in double figures in their rout of the Panthers.

Here are some observations after Virginia Tech improved to 10-2 and 1-0 in the ACC, while Pittsburgh fell to 6-8 and 0-1 in conference play.

1. Virginia Tech recovers from bad a second quarter

After one quarter, the Hokies led 22-5, but in the second quarter, Virginia Tech struggled and struggled mightily. They were held scoreless for the first 5:50 of the second quarter and a 9-0 Panthers run cut the deficit to 22-14. The Hokies turned up the defense and closed out the half on a 10-2 run to regain control of the game.

2. Georgia Amoore leads all scorers

Normally Amoore is driving and dishing to set up teammates, but against Pittsburgh, she led all scorers with 20 points. She was 3-for-8 on 3-pointers and was perfect from the free-throw line on all three attempts. She was 7-for-13 from the field overall and had three assists.

3. Elizabeth Kitley falls short of another double-double

Kitley was held to 10 points and nine rebounds, but she was big on the defensive end, altering shots and being a big part of the Hokies' defense that held Pittsburgh to a lot of one-and-done possessions. She had two assists and did a nice job of passing out of the post all game long.

4. Matilda Ekh & Cayla King combine for six treys

As if trying to guard Kitley on the inside is hard enough, when you focus on her, the Hokies have other players who can hurt you from the outside. That was the case against Pittsburgh. Matilda Ekh, who transferred from Michigan State, finished with 16 points and four assists and was 3-for-8 from behind the arc. Cayla King had 11 points hit three treys herself and had three assists. Virginia Tech has many different ways they can hurt you with their starting lineup.

5. Virginia Tech's combines for 32 points

The Hokies bench made some big contributions against the Panthers. Carleigh Wenzel had 11 points and four assists off the bench, Olivia Summiel had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Carys Baker had nine points and three rebounds. Center Carolyn Strack had two points and a pair of rebounds. Depth off the bench is going to be very big for Kenny Brooks and his team this season.

Virginia Tech returns to action Thursday night at Wake Forest in their first road ACC game of the season, but they will be doing it coming off an impressive opening performance against Pittsburgh.