12 Inside Hokie Sports ©2022 Martin Travel Agency, LLC 22_1383263c2 GOING PLACES? Martin Travel specializes in customizing group travel experiences for Virginia Tech alumni and sports fans. What do you need to have the best trip? Martin knows. Contact a Martin Travel Advisor Today MartinTravel.com/Hokies | 540-343-5400 | Info@MartinTravel.com Cameron Indoor Stadium, 6655. Amoore was held to seven points on 2-12 shooting from the field against the Blue Devils. “When I looked at the schedule and I saw 3-3, that was sickening. I knew there were those three losses that we should have won,” Amoore reflected from the team’s classroom at Hahn Hurst. “I think Miami was big for our team development, but Duke specifically was big for me. I learned a lot, but it really made me mad. The next few times we played Duke, I think we very much made up for the first loss we had.” Amoore and her teammates did more than just make up for it. Tech didn’t lose again for the rest of the regular season, including a 61-45 smashing of the No. 9 Blue Devils in Blacksburg. The Hokies also took down NC State twice in that span, a team that had beaten the Hokies three times the previous season. Amoore averaged 16.1 PPG in the final eight games of the regular season, igniting for 27 points in Raleigh against the Wolfpack and 25 against Florida State. By the end of the season, she had emerged as one of the best, if not the best, three point shooting threats in the ACC. Amoore says she has her coach to thank for that. “I think that there’s so many aspects of my own game that I’ve improved on and shooting is definitely one of them,” Amoore said, who finished the season with 118 3’s, a program record for a single season. “Coach Brooks is the man that has done that for me because at home, I was not a shooter. I could occasionally take a few shots, but everything from my follow through to my shot mechanics were just off. I came here and Coach Brooks 100% fixed that because now I put up 19 threes in a game, and it’s just totally fine.” The fearlessness to launch the three carried on for Amoore into the ACC Tournament. The Aussie went 11-17 from deep combined in the Hokies’ first two games in Greensboro, rolling through Elite Eight participant Miami and Duke by 26 and 21, respectively, en route to the program’s first ever ACC Final vs. Louisville. “We didn’t care who we played, because as long as we locked in and ourselves, and we knew what we could do. We were fully confident we could have beat anyone,” Amoore described of the team’s experience in Greensboro. “And we did. Did I think we were going to beat everyone by almost 20 points each game? No, but I knew that we were strong.” That strength carried into the final against Louisville. Tech led the game by as much as 15 in the second half, and Amoore’s focus was unbothered by the magnitude of the moment. The guard from Ballarat commanded the Hokies with 25 points, four assists, and a 10-10 performance from the free throw line to help clinch the Hokies’ first ACC title. Amoore was subsequently named the tournament’s MVP. If college basketball fans didn’t know Georgia Amoore’s name, they certainly do now. Her charisma and talent shined on the sport’s biggest stage in the NCAA Tournament, all the way to the Final Four. Her play earned her Seattle 3 Regional Most Outstanding Player honors. Interviews from ESPN’s Holly Rowe and Kelly Gramlich finally showed the rest of the country the leader that Amoore is in Blacksburg. Despite the national attention, Amoore is incredibly proud of the fans that have supported her and her teammates in recordbreaking numbers. “They are changing the outcomes of games and putting pressure on the other teams,” Amoore said of the crowds at Cassell, who packed the building for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. “The noise is just encouraging, because you’re doing it for so many other people than yourself.” Spotlight ASCENDING into the Continued from page 11
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