By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Even though it's one of the most-lopsided losses in the history of Virginia Tech basketball, eighth-year head coach Kenny Brooks calls the 90-48 loss to Baylor in an NCAA Tournament second-round game three years ago a "signature game for us."
 
In a full-circle moment, fourth-seeded Virginia Tech (25-7) will host fifth-seeded Baylor (25-7) at 7 p.m. CT Sunday at Cassell Coliseum, where the Hokies have won a program-record 26-consecutive games.
 
"They had so many veterans who went to the WNBA, and you could just tell it was a different confidence level," said Brooks, who led the Hokies to their first-ever Final Four last year. "Probably one of the longest games that I've ever been associated with, but it was a very important game because our kids remembered that game.
 
"Obviously, it's a totally different team, but our kids remembered that. But what we took from that was, okay, if you want to be that level, you've got to have confidence like that. And we knew how hard we needed to play and compete to get to that level."
 
While the Hokies return three of five starters from that game, including 6-6 All-American center Elizabeth Kitley, Baylor's only holdover from that game is 5-6 senior guard Sarah Andrews (11.1 ppg, 3.9 assists). But Kitley (22.4 ppg, 11.4 rebounds) is out with a knee injury that has forced her to miss the last three games.
 
Andrews, who hit a 3-pointer in playing just four minutes in that second-round game on March 23, 2021, said she doesn't really remember anything "from my freshman year."
 
"I think we won, but they're a different team and we're a different team, so we've both got to come out there and play," said Andrews, who hit two 3-pointers and scored 13 points with five assists in the Bears' 80-63 opening-round win over 12^th-seeded Vanderbilt on Friday.
 
Virginia Tech, which is 2-1 since losing Kitley to an ACL injury in the March 3 regular-season finale at Virginia, had no problems without the three-time ACC Player of the Year in a 92-49 blowout of 13^th-seeded Marshall in Friday's opening round. Making her first start in filling in for Kitley, 6-5 freshman Clara Stack (4.1 ppg, 3.9 rebounds) was 7-for-7 from the field and finished with 17 points, five rebounds and four blocks.
 
Baylor beat Texas, 85-79, on the road on Dec. 30 in the Longhorns' second game after losing Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Rori Hammond to a similar injury.
 
"Playing against Texas after they lost Rori, there's kind of that transition period of figuring out how different or how similar do you plug someone in and play the same way. Do you play a little bit differently?" third-year Baylor head coach Nicki Collen said.
"So, I feel like (Virginia Tech was) kind of in that phase in the ACC Tournament, of figuring it out a little bit. But obviously, I thought (Friday) they were incredibly poised against the press, got good shots made good shots."
 
Much like Texas did when Madison Booker took on a bigger role without Hammond, the Hokies have to lean more on 5-6 senior point guard Georgia Amoore (18.8 ppg, 6.8 assists). A two-time first-team All-ACC pick and MVP of last year's ACC Tournament and Seattle 3 Regional, Amoore scored 39 points in the loss to Virginia.
 
In a strength-on-strength matchup, a Baylor defense that ranks seventh nationally in 3-point shooting percentage allowed (25.9) goes against a Virginia Tech team that shoots 35% from outside the arc and averages nine made 3-pointers per game.
 
"Obviously, a team that is really, really good from the 3-point line," Collen said. "And I think they can still play into the paint. And it's finding that balance for Georgia and getting their shooters shots, because it's obviously a strength. . . . They know their roles, and when they get their feet set, they're really, really good. So, we've got to do a good job of taking away and contesting 3-pointers."
 
Sophomore forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, who is averaging 10.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, said Collen and the rest of the Baylor coaches "really emphasize just being there on the catch and noticing, being aware of our shooters."
 
"If we know we're playing a team full of shooters," she said, "we have to be a lot more aware. Just being aggressive and staying alert of where those shooters are on the court."
 
Andrews said the Bears are "athletic enough to close out and get back in front when they try to blow past us."
 
"Just being there on the catch and making them try to blow past us downhill," she said.
 
After a rough patch that saw the Bears drop six of 10 after a 14-0 start, Baylor has won seven of its last eight and found its groove in the opening-round win over Vanderbilt. Sophomore Bella Fontleroy led the way with her third double-double of the season, hitting four 3-pointers and finishing with game highs of 19 points and 11 boards.
 
"I think this is a team that you saw start out going (14-0)," Andrews said. "I see the firepower in our eyes. We're 1-0 right now. We know the next game is not guaranteed. So, we can't take any plays off. That one play you take off could be the play that costs you the game. Not everybody has a chance to be in this tournament. So, we're just ready to play."
 
An obvious challenge for the Bears is playing on the Hokies' home court at the 10,052-seat Cassell Coliseum. They had almost 9,000 for the opening-round win over Marshall.
 
"I feel like we're not just playing against five players (Sunday), we're playing against 10,005," Collen said, "because I think the energy in this building will be insane. I think the people here will take it very, very personally to help this team and be kind of a sixth man because of what Kitley has meant to this program.
 
"We just have to play our best basketball and stay poised and handle their runs. And I'm probably going to have to use my timeouts when necessary, so this building doesn't get so crazy. But I think they're a really, really good team (with or without Kitley) and showed that yesterday."
 
Baylor is trying to reach its 15^th Sweet 16 in program history and first since that 2021 season, when the Bears lost to UConn in the Elite Eight. Virginia Tech has made just two previous trips to the Sweet 16 – in 1999 and 2023 – and made its only Final Four appearance last year.
 
Sunday's game will be an ESPN broadcast, with Jay Alter and Kelly Gramlich calling the action. The winner advances to the region semifinals in Portland, Ore., and will face the winner of a Monday game between top-seeded USC (27-5) and No. 8 seed Kansas (20-12).