Baylor vs. Virginia Tech: NCAA Women’s Tournament Preview and Prediction
Here is everything you need to know about Baylor and Virginia Tech in our Bears vs. Hokies NCAA Women’s Tournament second-round preview.
No. 5 Baylor (25-7) vs. No. 4 Virginia (25-7)
Time, TV: 7 p.m. Sunday, Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Va., ESPN
All-time series (Baylor 1-0): Baylor beat Virginia Tech, 90-48, on March 23, 2021, in San Antonio, Texas.
Winner: Advances to the Sweet 16 next week in Albany, N.Y.
NCAA Tournament Results: Baylor: def. Vanderbilt, 80-63 (first round); Virginia Tech: def. 92-49 (first round)
Projected starting lineups
Baylor: G Bella Fontleroy, G Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, G Jada Walker, G Sarah Andrews, G Aijha Blackwell.
Virginia Tech: G Cayla King, G Georgia Amoore, G Matilda Ekh, G Olivia Summiel, C Clara Strack.
Players to watch
Baylor
G Bella Fontleroy
She’s listed as a guard but she can do so much more than just shoot, as her performance in Baylor’s first round win over Vanderbilt suggests. Fontleroy had a double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. She made four 3-pointers. She dished out two assists and even had a steal. At 6-foot Fontleroy is skilled enough to play on the wing and strong enough to play inside. This season she’s averaging nearly 10 points and five rebounds a game.
Virginia Tech
G Georgia Amoore
Amoore only scored nine points and dished out four assists in 20 minutes of play against Marshall, but with a huge lead the Hokies were able to sit her. That is not indicative of her impact on Virginia Tech this season. She has been Virginia Tech’s second-leading scorer this season, as she’s averaged 19.2 points per game. She also leads the team with 6.9 assists and is an 85% free-throw shooter.
Key storylines
Baylor
Baylor had a six-game winning streak before it fell in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. What Baylor lacks in having a true center they make up for with a versatile, athletic lineup that can give opponents fits in the paint and outside the arc. Dre’Una Edwards, Aijha Blackwell and Bella Fontleroy are almost interchangeable in coach Nicki Collen’s system, and that versatility is an asset, especially as it stretches defenses. Baylor is an NCAA Tournament mainstay, but Collen is 3-2 in the NCAA Tournament in two-plus seasons at Baylor. The standard at Baylor is to get further in the tournament.
Virginia Tech
The Hokies suffered a huge blow just before the tournament when they lost their leading scorer, forward Elizabeth Kitley, to a torn ACL. The Hokies reached the Final Four last season with Kitley and without her they’ll have to rely on Amoore and other scorers to find offense. Ekh gave the Hokies 21 points in the win over Marshall and Summiel — who has averaged less than four points per game — grabbed 14 rebounds. Strack also came through with 17 points. Virginia Tech will have to further distribute their offense to survive and advance.
Prediction
Baylor 73, Virginia Tech 71. Baylor can spread Virginia Tech out offensively. But the key will be dealing with Strack inside. If Baylor can keep her from being dominant, it can move on to the Sweet 16.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
