Women’s basketball secures No. 1 seed for the first time in program history

Virginia Tech women’s basketball vaulted into the top few teams of the country in the last few weeks, culminating in a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. 

The Hokies (24–7), winners of 11 consecutive games and the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina last week, earned the top seed in the Seattle 3 region. They will play in their first round game against No. 16 Chattanooga (20–12) in Cassell Coliseum on Friday.

Blacksburg will also host No. 8 USC (21–9) and No. 9 South Dakota State (28–5) on Friday. If the Hokies advance, they will play one of those teams in the Round of 32.

“I don’t think you sit down and say ‘we want to be a No. 1 seed,’” said Virginia Tech Head Coach Kenny Brooks. “Obviously, you’re taking baby steps; you’re trying to go from a five (seed) to a four (seed) so you can host. And now that you have that seeding, you have responsibility that comes along with it.”

Point guard Georgia Amoore, who won Most Valuable Player of the ACC Tournament, acknowledged she hadn’t thought of the possibility of being a top seed in previous seasons.

“(I didn’t think about it) at the start of this year, to be quite truthful,” Amoore said. “(I was) hoping to just host, and that was about it. But to get this No. 1 seed, it shows the growth of us and this program.”

Center Elizabeth Kitley, twice-named ACC Player of the Year, noted how much attendance has improved as the season progressed, and how it will be beneficial this weekend. She referenced their senior night game on Feb. 19.

“It just created a lot of momentum throughout the game,” Kitley said. “And I think that if we can increase that even more and just get a ton of people in here, it’d be really cool and it’ll definitely help us win.”

Chattanooga’s head coach, Shawn Poppie, was an associate head coach at Virginia Tech before leaving prior to the 2022-23 season. When Brooks learned that he would coach against his former colleague and mentee, he was surprised.

“(Poppie is) a competitor,” Brooks said. “He competes with everything that he does and he’s not gonna come in here and roll over for us. So he’s gonna give us everything he’s got.”

The Seattle 3 region is filled with familiar faces and tough foes. No. 2 UConn (29–5) ended the season ranked second in the NCAA NET rankings, while No. 5 Iowa State (22–9) finished 14th. The Hokies faced No. 6 North Carolina (21–10) twice this season, defeating them both times, the latter of which ended on a Kitley buzzer beater. Additionally, they defeated Tennessee (23–11) 59–56 on Dec. 4. 

The Hokies will host NCAA Tournament games for the first time since 2004 on Friday, facing off against Chattanooga.