The Bison women’s basketball team continued its non-conference play this past week. The team traveled down to Blacksburg, Va. to face off against No. 13 ranked Virginia Tech on Friday, Nov. 11. The Orange and Blue battled closely for the entirety of the game, but the Hokies were able to pull away in the end. 

From the opening whistle, the Bison were eager to get on the board, leading the Hokies 11-10 in the first quarter until a three-point buzzer beater gave the Hokies the lead. 

They continued to fight, putting up 12 points in the second quarter to the Hokies’ 18. Entering halftime, the Bison were only trailing by eight points. 

The Orange and Blue outshot the Hokies 41.9 percent to 38.1 percent, however, were unable to capitalize on as many of those chances as their opponent. 

The score remained close in the third quarter, but in the fourth, Virginia Tech finally pulled away with a 11-0 run. The game ended 67-41 in favor of the Hokies.

Despite the score, the Bison had many notable performances. Cecelia Collins ’25 anchored the Bison attack with 13 points, closely followed by Emma Theodorsson ’26 with 10 points. 

Defensively, the Bison were stout, with key blocks coming from Grace Sullivan ’26, Isabella King ’25 and Emma Shaffer ’23.

“It was a great opportunity to learn about ourselves,” Shaffer said. “I think we did not back down and put up a great fight. We took many things away and will continue to work on those things to grow on the momentum. It feels great to be playing in Sojka this week and I’m excited for this team and our games in the future!”

The Bison will return to Lewisburg for their 2022-23 season home opener at Sojka Pavilion. They face off against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 16 at 6 p.m.