Ekh, Hokies roll past Marshall in first round

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- — Matilda Ekh scored 21 points to lead No. 13 Virginia Tech to a 92-49 victory over Marshall in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament on Friday.

The Hokies won without star center Elizabeth Kitley, who is out for the tournament with a torn ACL.

Ekh connected on 6 of 9 from the floor and hit five 3-pointers for the Hokies (25-7), who set a school record by winning their 26th consecutive game at Cassell Coliseum.

Starting in place of Kitley, Clara Strack had 17 points and Carleigh Wenzel added 13 for Virginia Tech, which never trailed.

Abby Beeman scored 12 points for Marshall (26-7), which saw its 10-game winning streak snapped.

Making its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, Virginia Tech jumped out to a 13-0 lead and cruised. Marshall missed its first 12 shots from the floor and didn’t score until Breanna Campbell’s three-point play with 3:18 left in the first quarter.

Marshall, which was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997 and just its second ever, cut a 16-point Virginia Tech lead to 32-25 on Campbell’s basket with 2:12 left in the first half, but the Hokies closed the first half with a 10-0 run and then opened the second half with a 14-1 run to put the game away.

The Hokies, who led by as many as 47, shot 53.8 percent (28 of 52).

BIG PICTURE

Marshall: As good as Marshall was in the Sun Belt this season -- it went 17-1 in league play -- it was overmatched against the ACC regular-season champions. The Herd struggled against the Hokies’ size, particularly when on offense. Marshall shot just 24.4 percent (19 of 78) and made just 6 of its 41 3-pointers.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies got a lot of contributions from their bench in their attempt to replace Kitley. The reserves combined to score 28 points, led by Wenzel, who played 30 minutes in place of All-American Georgia Amoore because of foul trouble. The Hokies will need continued production from that group if they want to advance in this tournament.

UP NEXT:

Virginia Tech plays the winner of Baylor and Vanderbilt.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness