Virginia Tech’s buzzer-beater wasn’t rocket science.
The score was tied with two seconds left on the clock. The Hokies had the ball out of bounds and senior center Elizabeth Kitley — the reigning ACC Player of the Year — was on the court.
The Tar Heels knew where the ball was going. They had a plan in place. In the words of head coach Courtney Banghart, it wasn’t rocket science.
“We were going to switch everything,” Banghart said. “When the ball came in we were going to foul, which would put them at under a second left.”
The Hokies spoiled North Carolina’s senior night with a homecoming of their own. Greensboro-native Cayla King passed the ball to Kitley, her former high school teammate, who rose up for the 15-foot buzzer-beater. No. 9 Virginia Tech claimed a 61-59 win over No. 22 North Carolina, marking their fourth-straight game that’s been decided in either overtime or a final margin of less than five points.
“We should charge more for the Virginia Tech games because they’re classics — all of them,” Banghart said.
Despite the return of veteran players Eva Hodgson and Alyssa Ustby, the game was lost due to inexperience and miscommunication. On an in-bounds play to Kitley, redshirt first-year guard Kayla McPherson was supposed to switch with junior forward Anya Poole and foul Kitley. Instead, she stuck with her assigned player, freeing up Kitley for the game-winning shot.
Junior wing Kennedy Todd-Williams had little explanation to offer for the last play of the game. It was “just some miscommunication.”
Before the Tar Heels set up on defense with two seconds left, junior guard Deja Kelly motioned for her team to huddle around her. Staring intently into her teammates’ eyes, she reminded them of the game plan — “to switch everything and to talk about it.”
