Virginia Tech (24-7, 14-4) fell 82-53 to Notre Dame (25-6, 13-5) in the ACC Tournament semifinal missing out on a chance to repeat as ACC Champs.

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“I don’t think we played well, especially well enough to advance to the ACC championship game. But we’ll get back to what we do best and get ready for the NCAA tournament,” said Virginia Tech head coach Kenny Brooks.

The Hokies were without their star center, Elizabeth Kitley, who was injured during Sunday's Commonwealth Clash and unable to compete in the ACC Tournament. Kitley is averaging 22.8 points per game, 11.4 rebounds, and shooting 55.6 percent from the field this season. As one of the few returning Hokie players, Kitley has been a fundamental part of Tech’s gameplay.

“Liz is not available for this tournament, and we wanted to make sure that her health and safety were the first thing on our minds. We’ll reevaluate her situation when the time is right. She’s doing great with her rehab. When the time is right, we’ll see what she can do,” Brooks said.

Without Kitley on the court, opponents have fixated their defense on star point guard Amoore, often double and triple-guarding the Australian native. Despite the extra blockage, Amoore walked away with 24 points.

“We really focused on Amoore. I felt like she was the engine and that was our main focus. We wanted to contain everyone, and defend the three-point line, but really put a lot of pressure on Amoore, and then again, just tried to deny her, trap her, get the ball out of her hands, put multiple bodies on her, and they did a great job. Obviously she got loose because she’s that type of player,” said Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey.

Notre Dame came out strong, grabbing an early lead four minutes into the game. Once the Irish had the advantage, they did not surrender it for the remainder of the game. At the end of the first half, Tech was trailing by 10 points. Two minutes into the second half, the Irish had extended their lead to 16, and Tech struggled to overcome the point deficit.

“When they went on that run to start, we were just sloppy. We didn’t play defense like we did in the first half. We wanted to do a third-quarter blitz, but they blitzed us at the start of the third quarter. From then on, they had the aggression and they had their heads down and we were put back on our heels again,” said senior point guard Georgia Amoore.

The Irish tallied 28 points in the third quarter. Sonia Citron led the Notre Dame squad with 19 points and shooting 7-12. The Hokie defense struggled to keep the scoring prowess of Citron, Hanna Hidalgo, Anna DeWolfe, and Maddy Westbeld at bay.

“It’s easy to get down and negative, but we have to adopt a kick-us-forward mentality. Clearly, we didn’t play well, and it’s going to be blatantly obvious on film. We did stupid stuff, and if we eliminated half of that, then it would have been a more interesting game. It’s nothing magical. It’s simple stuff that we can achieve,” Amoore said.

Notre Dame will continue to the ACC championship game, while Virginia Tech will head home to begin preparations for the NCAA Tournament.

“I’m excited. It’s like a new energy. I’m tired of playing the same teams in the ACC. I’m tired of the same officials. I’m excited to see something new. I want to see some new officials. I want to see some new teams, I want to see some new everything. So we’ll be energized for it,” Brooks said.

Round one of the NCAA Tournament will begin March 22.

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