Ticket Market Place
Sports Radio Network | 
Travel Center & Info
| 1 | 2 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Virginia Tech (10-12, 1-8 ACC) | 37 | 34 | 71 |
 Georgia Tech (14-9, 4-5 ACC) | 39 | 40 | 79 |
| |||
ATLANTA – The Virginia Tech women’s basketball team gave Georgia Tech all it could handle, but the Yellow Jackets held off the Hokies for a 79-71 win on Sunday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, Ga.
“I thought we played good basketball for a lot of stretches in the game,” said head coach Dennis Wolff. “I’m disappointed that we don’t maintain doing the little things right to the end. If we can find a way to do that we will put ourselves in a position to win.”
Sidney Cook led all scorers, dropping in a career-high 25 points for the Hokies (10-12, 1-8 ACC). Cook also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to record her second double-double of the season. Vanessa Panousis added 18 points and Taijah Campbell added eight.
“Both Sidney Cook and Vanessa Panousis played great games today,” Wolff said. “They were really able to bounce back after the game the other night.”
In the opening half the two teams kept it close and were tied at 23 with 8:35 on the clock. Georgia Tech used a 13-6 surge to push ahead by seven, taking the largest lead of the half by either team, going up 36-29 with 3:24 to go. The Hokies used a balanced offensive effort, getting points from Cook, Panousis, Samantha Hill and Rachel Camp in the final minutes to cut the Yellow Jackets lead to 39-37 at the break.
Coming out of the break, the Hokies took the 42-41 lead off a three pointer from Hannah Young, but the Yellow Jackets answered to go up by four three minutes later. The Hokies again took the advantage as Cook connected on a jumper to give Virginia Tech a 52-50 lead with 11:51 to go.
Georgia Tech responded with a 12-2 run to go up 62-54 with just over seven minutes remaining, but the Hokies kept it close and cut it down to four (65-61) off a layup from Hill with 5:06 on the clock. The Jackets again used a run to put some distance between them and the Hokies, pulling ahead 72-63 with 3:19 remaining. Virginia Tech looked to make the late surge as Panousis drained a three, followed by a jumper from Cook to pull the Hokies within five with just under two minutes to go.
Virginia Tech again trailed by five following a pair of free throws from Panousis with 1:08 to go, but the Yellow Jackets connected on 5-of-8 from the line in the final minute to secure the win.
Aaliyah Whiteside led the Yellow Jackets (14-9, 4-5 ACC) with 19 points. Zaire O’Neil added 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Kaela Davis and Antonia Peresson had 17 points each.
Both teams shot well from the field with the Hokies knocking down 43.3 percent and the Jackets with 47.2 percent. Georgia Tech held an advantage outside the arc, however, hitting 52.6 percent on 10-of-19. Virginia Tech was 7-of-23.
The Jackets also got production from the charity line connecting on 19-of-28 to the Hokies’ 6-of-7.
The Hokies will be back on the court on Thursday, Feb. 5 when they make the trip to Miami. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Coral Gables, Fla.
For updates on Virginia Tech women's basketball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_WBBall
