Virginia Tech Women's Basketball: Strong second half leads Hokies past William & Mary

One look at the final score and you would think that the Virginia Tech women's basketball team had an easy time with William & Mary Thursday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum, but it was not that easy.

The Tribe led 14-13 after the first quarter and the No. 15 Hokies led 27-24 at halftime, but Virginia Tech used a dominating second half that saw them outscore the visitors, 49-19, to improve to 9-2 with the non-conference victory. William & Mary fell to 4-7.

Virginia Tech struggled in the first half

It was a struggle in the first half for the Hokies, to say the least. After hitting 17 treys against Rutgers Sunday night, the Hokies struggled in the opening 20 minutes as William & Mary did a nice job of doubling Elizabeth Kitley in the post, which left shooters open for the Hokies and they couldn't hit a shot. They went 1-for-18 from behind the arc with the only made 3 coming from Cayla King. Virginia Tech missed their first eight shots of the game and had trouble containing Bella Nascimento who all 14 points in the first quarter for the Tribe.

In the second quarter, the Hokies played better and used a 10-5 run to take their first lead. In what could be considered a turning point in the game, Virginia Tech's defense forced a turnover and Georgia Amoore made a layup at the buzzer for a 27-24 halftime lead.

Virginia Tech pulls away with huge second half

You knew that going 1-for-18 from behind the 3-point line was not going to last for the Hokies. Virginia Tech caught fire from behind the arc, going 9-for-11 and they held the Tribe to just 19 second-half points. Matlida Ekh hit a 3-pointer to open the second half and they started a 10-0 spurt to create some distance from William & Mary. King hit a 3-pointer and Georgia Amoore had one before Carys Baker his three of her own. King then drilled a deep one during Tech's run.

Kitley finished with another double-double with 23 points and 17 rebounds and she already had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds by halftime. Kitley became the ACC and Virginia Tech all-time leader in rebounds with her 17.

Baker had 13 points off the bench for the Hokies, while Amoore had 12 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. King finished with nine points on three 3-pointers. Virginia Tech is now off until Dec. 31 when they begin ACC play against Pittsburgh at home.