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Emery's big game puts Hokies in position, but Tech falls to UVA in Commonwealth Clash
The junior guard scored a career-high 32 points, as the Hokies rallied from a 23-point deficit only to fall 64-62
February 11, 2018
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Virginia (16-9, 9-3) | 21 | 18 | 17 | 8 | 64 |
 Virginia Tech (16-9, 5-7) | 10 | 11 | 17 | 24 | 62 |
| |||||
BLACKSBURG – Taylor Emery scored a career-high 32 points, but it wasn’t quite enough, as Virginia withstood a huge Virginia Tech rally and departed with a 64-62 ACC victory over the Hokies on Sunday afternoon at Carilion Clinic Court.
The Tech-UVA women’s basketball game was presented by Virginia529, the official college savings plan of Virginia Tech Athletics and the University of Virginia Athletics. The score for the "Commonwealth Clash" is now 5.5-2.5 in favor of Virginia Tech. Learn more about Virginia529 and this competition at www.thecommonwealthclash.com.
The loss snapped the Hokies’ two-game winning streak, as Tech fell to 16-9 overall, 5-7 in the ACC. Virginia moved to 16-9, 9-3 in league play.
“By the way that I feel, it might be the toughest loss that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Tech head coach Kenny Brooks said. “And for a magnitude of reasons. Everything that they’ve gone through and what they’ve done and how they got into position to win the game, I felt like they deserve a chance to win it. For them to put that much energy and effort into it and come up a little short, especially when they have the game in their grasp.
“It’s one thing when you come back and fall short because you could never get over the hump, but I felt like we had momentum, we had the situation, and we just needed to make a couple of plays – and we weren’t able to do so.”
Tech trailed by as many as 23 in the second half, but Emery brought the Hokies back into the game. The junior from Tampa, Florida scored every point in a 15-0 run to start the fourth quarter, and her two free throws with 6:07 remaining cut the Virginia lead to 56-53.
Three minutes later, the Hokies scored six straight points and grabbed a 62-59 lead on a free throw by Rachel Camp with 1:41 left in the game.
But Virginia scored the final five points of the game. A stick-back by Lauren Moses gave the Cavaliers a 63-62 lead with 38 seconds remaining. Emery turned the ball over with 9 seconds left, and the Hokies fouled Jocelyn Willoughby, who made the first of two free throws with 8 seconds to go to push the lead to 64-62.
The Hokies had two cracks at it in the final seconds, with Emery missing a short jumper and Michelle Berry missing a contested jumper in the paint.
“It was a good look,” Brooks said of Emery’s jumper. “It was a really good look. We drew up a play. She came off of it. We got the basketball to her where we wanted to. I think she took one dribble. It was a little bit contested, but I’ll take Taylor, especially in that situation, taking a contested shot.”
Emery made 13 of 20 from the floor, including three 3-pointers for the Hokies, who shot 55 percent in the second half and 45.1 percent for the game. Rachel Camp added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Toussaint and J’Kyra Brown each scored 15 points for the Cavaliers.
GAME NOTES
• Emery’s 32 points were just two shy of the Carilion Clinic Court record of 34 set by Renee Dennis against Memphis in 1987 and just four shy of the overall single-game record of 36 set by Brittany Cook against Miami in 2008.
• Emery has scored at least 20 points in three consecutive games and four of the past five. She has scored at least 20 points in 13 games this season.
• Emery’s 13 field goals were a career high and the most by a Tech player this season.
• Regan Magarity, playing a lot at the point position, dished out a career-high five assists.
• Camp’s nine rebounds pushed her season average to 5.2 – a strong number for a guard.
• The Hokies’ 45.1 percent from the floor was their best shooting percentage in a loss this season.
• Kendyl Brooks has hit at least one 3-pointer in 23 of 25 games this season and 52 of the 57 games in which she has played in her career.
UP NEXT
The Hokies return to the court Thursday with a game at Wake Forest that tips at 7 p.m. Tech has won three straight against the Demon Deacons and five of the past six meetings.
For updates on Virginia Tech women's basketball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @HokiesWBB
