# 2020–21 Virginia Tech Hokies women's basketball team

The 2020–21 Virginia Tech Hokies women's basketball team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Hokies, led by fifth year head coach Kenny Brooks, played their home games at Cassell Coliseum as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Hokies finished the season 15–10 and 8–8 in ACC play to finish in seventh place. In the ACC tournament, they defeated to Miami in the Second Round before losing to eventual champions NC State in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they were the seven seed in the Riverwalk Regional. In the tournament they defeated ten seed Marquette in the First Round before losing to two seed Baylor in the Second Round to end their season.

## Previous season

They finished the 2019–20 season 21–9 and 11–7 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fourth place. As the fifth seed in the ACC tournament, they lost to Wake Forest in the Second Round. The NCAA tournament and WNIT were cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Trinity Baptiste | 0 | F | 6'0" | Junior | Tampa, FL | Transferred to Arizona |
| Dara Mabrey | 4 | G | 5'7" | Sophomore | Belmar, NJ | Transferred to Notre Dame |
| Taja Cole | 5 | G | 5'8" | Graduate Student | Richmond, VA | Graduated |
| Kendyl Brooks | 10 | G | 5'10" | Senior | Harrisonburg, VA | Graduated |
| Lydia Rivers | 21 | F | 6'2" | Graduate Student | Kinston, NC | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| D'Asia Gregg | 11 | F | 6'2" | Junior | Florence, SC | Georgia Tech/Gulf Coast State |
| Azana Baines | 15 | G | 6'1" | Sophomore | Blackwood, NJ | Duke |

### Recruiting Class

Source:
US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Shamarla King G | Hartford, CT | Watkinson School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Shelby Calhoun G | Louisville, KY | Christian Academy of Louisville | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Nevaeh Dean F | Hamilton, OH | Lakota West | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 25, 2020* 4:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Richmond | W 85–64 | 1–0 | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| November 28, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Liberty | W 81–66 | 2–0 | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| December 1, 2020* 5:00 p.m., ACCNX | | George Washington | W 92–57 | 3–0 | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| December 4, 2020* 5:00 p.m., ACCN | | Appalachian State | W 84–59 | 4–0 | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| December 6, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Gardner–Webb | W 73–39 | 5–0 | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| ACC regular season ||||||
| December 10, 2020 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Pittsburgh | W 88–71 | 6–0 (1–0) | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| December 17, 2020 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Notre Dame | L 78–84 | 6–1 (1–1) | Purcell Pavilion (64) Notre Dame, IN |
| December 20, 2021 Noon, ACCN | | Virginia | Postponed | Postponed | Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, VA |
| December 31, 2020 Noon, ACCNX | | Florida State | L 63–73 | 6–2 (1–2) | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| January 3, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Duke | Canceled | Canceled | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC |
| January 7, 2021 8:00 p.m., RSN | | No. 2 Louisville | L 67–71 | 6–3 (1–3) | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| January 10, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Georgia Tech | L 54–56 | 6–4 (1–4) | McCamish Pavilion (1,200) Atlanta, GA |
| January 14, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at North Carolina | W 66–54 | 7–4 (2–4) | Carmichael Arena (0) Chapel Hill, NC |
| January 17, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | Wake Forest | L 64–67 | 7–5 (2–5) | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| January 21, 2021 7:00 p.m., RSN | | Notre Dame | L 60–65 | 7–6 (2–6) | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| January 24, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at No. 2 NC State | L 87–89 | 7–7 (2–7) | Reynolds Coliseum (25) Raleigh, NC |
| January 28, 2021 4:00 p.m., RSN | | No. 2 NC State | W 83–71 $^{OT}$ | 8–7 (3–7) | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| January 31, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | | North Carolina | W 73–69 | 9–7 (4–7) | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| February 2, 2021 6:00 p.m. | | Virginia | Virginia's Season Canceled | Virginia's Season Canceled | Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, VA |
| February 4, 2021 7:00 p.m., RSN | | at Pittsburgh | W 74–55 | 10–7 (5–7) | Peterson Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 11, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Miami (FL) | W 75–55 | 11–7 (6–7) | Watsco Center (0) Coral Gables, FL |
| February 14, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Boston College | Postponed | Postponed | Conte Forum Chestnut Hill, MA |
| February 18, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Duke | Duke's Season Canceled | Duke's Season Canceled | Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, VA |
| February 21, 2021 Noon, RSN | | Syracuse | W 76-68 | 12–7 (7–7) | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| February 25, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Clemson | W 70–64 | 13–7 (8–7) | Littlejohn Coliseum (327) Clemson, SC |
| February 28, 2021 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Virginia | Virginia's Season Canceled | Virginia's Season Canceled | John Paul Jones Arena Charlottesville, VA |
| February 28, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | | North Carolina | L 63–68 | 13–8 (8–8) | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| ACC Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2021 6:00 p.m., RSN | (7) | vs. (10) Miami (FL) Second Round | W 72–64 | 14–8 | Greensboro Coliseum (451) Greensboro, NC |
| March 5, 2021 6:00 p.m., RSN | (7) | vs. (2) No. 3 NC State Quarterfinals | L 55–68 | 14–9 | Greensboro Coliseum (592) Greensboro, NC |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 21, 2021 Noon, ESPNU | (7 R) | vs. (10 R) Marquette First Round | W 70–63 | 15–9 | Strahan Arena San Marcos, TX |
| March 23, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (7 R) | vs. (2 R) No. 5 Baylor Second Round | L 48–90 | 15–10 | Alamodome San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. R=Riverwalk. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Rankings

2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not Ranked in Previous Week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked |