BLACKSBURG — The Virginia Tech women’s basketball team will be without the services of one of its backups when it visits Virginia on Sunday.
Freshman guard/forward Taylor Geiman suffered a torn ACL in her left knee in last weekend’s loss at Duke. She will undergo surgery next week and will miss the rest of the season.
“It’s really devastating for the kid,” Tech coach Kenny Brooks said this week. “She was finally starting to hit her stride.”
The 6-foot Geiman, who played off-guard and both forward spots, was one of only eight Hokies who saw action in last weekend’s defeat.
After missing the first five games of the season with shin injuries, Geiman averaged 11.9 minutes in 11 games. She averaged just 2.1 points.
The good news for Tech (12-4, 2-3 ACC) is that reserve post player Alex Obouh Fegue, who played in the first four games this season before being sidelined with a broken wrist, is expected to return to action Sunday.
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“You still get another body back, but now it’s going to probably force us to play a little bit bigger sometimes, where we were actually trending toward playing smaller [with Geiman in the rotation],” Brooks said.
Two other Hokies have had injury woes this season — Brooks’ eldest and middle daughters.
Senior guard Kendyl Brooks is not playing this season because of hip surgery.
Redshirt freshman Chloe Brooks has played in just one game this season because of nerve damage in a foot. She saw two minutes of action in last month’s win over Wichita State.
She missed the first 11 games of her senior season at Spotswood High School because of foot surgery. During the operation, which was to shave bone spurs in a foot, a nerve in the foot was nicked and deadened. Although she did play for Spotswood later that season, the foot has bothered her ever since.
“We’re not rushing her back,” Kenny Brooks said. “It’s something that probably won’t fully get better. … When she pushes off or she is trying to cut … not only does she feel like she doesn’t generate the energy or the power, she gets an uncomfortable sensation.”
The Hokies hope to play better down the stretch at UVa (7-10, 2-4) than they did in last weekend’s 72-67 overtime loss at Duke. Tech led by nine points with 7:16 left in the fourth quarter.
“We got a little bit stagnant in the fourth at the end,” Kenny Brooks said. “Some of it was fatigue. Some of it, we kind of played tentative.
“We just didn’t close it out and finish it the way that I would’ve like. … We’re so new to each other. … Still trying to find our identity and trying to figure out situations like that — who’s going to take over.”
Down 68-65 in the final minute of overtime, Tech had a chance to tie the score.
But with four seconds left on the shot clock, Brooks called a timeout that nullified Dara Mabrey’s 3-pointer.
“I watched the shot clock run down several times before and we heave up something that has no chance of going in. And then the one time I anticipate it and I call a timeout, we make the shot,” Brooks said. “During those situations, … I would prefer [point guard] Taja [Cole] to go get the basketball.”
After the timeout, Mabrey dribbled the ball until the shot clock expired. After that turnover, Duke extended the lead.
“I said, ‘Did you not know there were four seconds [on the shot clock]?’ She said, ‘I forgot,’ ” Brooks said.
Mark Berman
Mark Berman covers Virginia Tech men’s basketball and many other teams at the university. He also helps cover other colleges, including Radford, VMI, Roanoke, Washington and Lee and Ferrum.
