BLACKSBURG — Kenny Brooks has watched games this season during which his Virginia Tech women’s basketball team has played pretty and lost.
“So I’ll take an ugly win,” the coach said, after the Hokies topped last-place Clemson 53-45 in their regular-season home finale at Cassell Coliseum on Sunday.
Rachel Camp scored 18 points, including seven straight down the stretch, and Taylor Emery had 16 points and 10 rebounds to spur the Hokies (17-10, 6-8 ACC) to the win, which snapped a two-game losing streak.
It was hardly a thing of beauty, however. Virginia Tech trailed by 10 early against a Clemson team that had lost eight straight .
The Hokies, playing for the fourth consecutive game without point guard Chanette Hicks — on personal leave from the team — tied a season high with 21 turnovers. They shot only 36.2 percent from the field and 21.7 percent from 3-point range, making just 5 of 23 shots from beyond the arc.
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But they eventually put things together , outscoring Clemson 19-4 in the final 9 ½ minutes. With the win, Tech’s women maintain sole possession of ninth place in the ACC, which would get the Hokies a Day 1 bye at the ACC Tournament in Greensboro later this month. Tech plays at No. 5 Notre Dame and Miami to finish the regular season.
The Tigers (11-17, 1-14) shot 53 percent to lead 19-9 after the first quarter, 29-22 at halftime and 37-32 into the fourth. Tech, still adjusting without Hicks in the lineup, looked out of sorts offensively.
“At the beginning we were just rushing a lot,” Camp said. “It was like we were going too fast for no reason. We calmed down a little bit and found our tempo.”
That was true on both sides of the ball. After Clemson scored two baskets on its first two possessions in the final quarter, Virginia Tech buckled down defensively. The Tigers didn’t score for more than six minutes.
Hokies forward Regan Magarity didn’t have a huge offensive game (8 points, 7 turnovers). Yet she finished with three blocks and a steal, bodying up Clemson post player Kobi Thornton, who scored a team-high 14 points but had a limited impact down the stretch.
“I thought our defense was good throughout the game,” Brooks said. “Our offensive finally decide to join the party in the fourth quarter.”
That offensive effort was led by Camp, who scored 11 of her game-high 18 points in the final quarter. The Hokies trailed 43-42 when Camp drove to the basket and made a layup while getting fouled with 1:46 to play. The ensuing free throw gave Tech a two-point lead.
After a defensive stop, Camp drained a 3-pointer from the wing, making it a five-point Hokies lead with a minute to play. She added a free throw on the next possession to complete a personal 7-0 run and give Tech a 49-43 advantage.
“I thought the MVP of the game was Rachel Camp,” Brooks said. “She did a tremendous job. She played so hard. She didn’t always come out and do the things that we asked her to do, but her effort, her intent, was always perfect.”
Six ACC wins ties a Hokies ACC record , matching Beth Dunkenberger’s teams for three straight seasons starting in 2004-05. It had been 11 years since Virginia Tech reached that mark.
“It’s big,” Emery said. “Obviously we’re working toward something a lot bigger than six wins, but just to be able to make our mark in history as a team is a really good stat for us.”