BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech women's basketball opened up the contest on a 22-6 run to collect a 78-49 victory over visiting Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at Cassel Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.
The Hokies shot 47 percent for the contest (31-of-66) and placed four players in double figures, led by Regan Magarity's double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Two other VT players notched double-doubles - Trinity Baptiste (13 pts, 12 rbs) and Taylor Emery (14 pts, 10 rbs). Alexis Brown was the only Eagle in double figures with 21 points.
Eagle of the Game
Alexis Brown had her second straight strong contest to open up her junior season, hitting 7-of-13 shots from the floor en route to 21 points. She hit one three-pointer and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. The output was one point shy of her career high of 22 points, set vs. ULM in her freshman year.
Key Moment
Virginia Tech (2-0) pushed their first-half advantage to 46-21 at the break, holding the Eagles (0-2) to just nine field goals and one three-pointer. Georgia Southern came out of halftime with a stellar third quarter, out-pointing the Hokies 20-18, but the home team allowed the Eagles just six fourth-quarter points to secure the victory.
Stat of the Game
The Eagles turned the ball over just 10 times in the contest, and matched up well with the sizable Hokies, getting 26 points in the paint, compared to 32 for VT. Sophomore Sarah Moore tied her career high with eight rebounds to go with eight points on the day.
Quotables
Head Coach Kip Drown on the second half:
"We just put 0-0 up on the scoreboard and said,' hey we need to start playing well.' I told them that we have to keep getting better and they responded, so that was encouraging. We only had 12 turnovers for the game, and six of those were in the first quarter. We did some things better after halftime. Our kids battled."
On Alexis Brown's game-high 21 points:
"She shot it pretty well, the mid-range game of hers is making her tough to guard. She's also getting to the rim, she was 6-for-6 at the line. Her game has a little bit of everything."
On the quick turnaround, hosting Mercer on Monday:
"We'll do a lot of prep on the bus ride home. It's a little bit of a preview of a Sun Belt with that Thursday-Saturday feel. We're also playing another really good team, Mercer's been one of the top mid-majors in the country the last couple of years. Our schedule's started off with three really tough games. But we're getting there. We're managing our turnovers, and we've just got to start making baskets."
Next up
The Eagles return to Hanner Fieldhouse to host in-state rival Mercer Monday at 6:30 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.
