BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech came out on top in the Rutgers women's basketball team's annual appearance in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Scarlet Knights quest to hand the Hokies their first loss of the 2018-19 campaign fell short in a 67-51 in setback on Wednesday night at Cassell Coliseum.

Rutgers dropped to 5-3 on the year, while Virginia Tech, who is receiving votes in both polls, improved to 8-0 overall.

The Scarlet Knights were led by graduate student guards Sierra Calhoun's 14-point night and Charise Wilson's 11 point effort. Redshirt senior forward Stasha Carey added eight points and 10 rebounds.

The Hokies were led by Taylor Emery with 22 points and Kendyl Brooks' 11 points. Regan Magarity contributed nine points and a game-high 14 boards.

FIRST QUARTER
The Hokies relied on long range, while the Scarlet Knights went inside. Virginia Tech held a 21-16 edge after the first 10 minutes of play with five of Virginia Tech's seven field goals coming from 3-point range, while Rutgers captured 10 of its 16 points in the paint.

Virginia Tech led by one, 11-10, at the first media time out with 4:16 left in the quarter, scoring its first nine points from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, RU used a mix of scoring with five different Scarlet Knights registering a bucket.

Out of the timeout, Sierra Calhoun sunk a shot from long range for RU's first lead of the night, but Virginia Tech regained the lead with an 8-0 run.

The Scarlet Knights ended the scoring drought with Victoria Harris and Sierra Calhoun each going 2-of-2 from the line, but it would be the Hokies out front to start the second quarter,   
 
SECOND QUARTER
While Virginia Tech was hot from downtown to start the game, the Hokies cooled off in the second missing all three attempts.

Rutgers got a big stop with the defense swarming Virginia Tech's Trinity Baptiste leading to Harris ripping the ball away and setting up Charise Wilson from downtown. Wilson's 3-pointer resulted in a 27-26 Scarlet Knight lead with 6:47 to go.

From there, the game endured three lead changes and three ties as the squads entered the half knotted up at 31-31.
 
THIRD QUARTER
 Calhoun accounted for seven of RU's 10 third quarter points.
 
A Calhoun layup and the traditional three-point play by Caitlin Jenkins kicked off the second half for Rutgers to take the lead, but Virginia Tech responded with a 12-3 run, including a string of nine unanswered, for a 45-41 lead with under three minutes left to play in the quarter.
 
The Scarlet Knights were limited to one field goal over the last six and a half minutes and trailed 47-43 heading into the final stanza.
 
FOURTH QUARTER
Rutgers was limited to two field goals and eight points in the frame, six coming from Carey, while Virginia Tech extended its lead to 16 for the final margin.
 
Carey gave Rutgers a layup to begin the frame, but RU drew no closer as Virginia Tech proceeded on a 7-0 run for a 54-45 with 6:26 left to play.
 
UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights will get some rest and continue nonconference play at Harvard on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m.



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