Last season, Florida State pummeled Virginia Tech 105-74 in Blacksburg, but the Hokies flipped the script this season, defeating the Seminoles 79-54 in Tallahassee.
Led by a balanced offense and a career-high, Virginia Tech (10-3) picked up its first ACC win of the season against Florida State (4-9) after losing its first conference game to Duke earlier in the season.
It was all Virginia Tech to start the game, with the Hokies putting up 26 points in the first quarter after a season-low 10 points in the first quarter against ETSU in their previous game. C
Carys Baker got the team going with a three-pointer, followed by Mel Daley and Kilah Freelon's buckets to start the game on a 7-0 run. That would set the tone for the rest of the game as the Hokies claimed a 26-12 lead by the end of the first quarter before taking a 45-28 lead into halftime.
Carys Baker led the team with 17 points in the first half. She would finish the game with 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the field with two 3-pointers, along with nine rebounds, three steals, and a block. This is her fourth 20-point effort in the last six games.
It was quite the opposite for the Seminoles, only scoring 12 points on 4-19 (21%) shooting from the field during the first quarter. FSU was already missing two of its top scorers and would then lose Sole Williams, their leading scorer with 2:16 left in the first half. She led the team with nine points, by the time she headed to the locker room in the second quarter.
Similar to the second quarter, the third quarter was closer, with the Hokies and Seminoles being even in the first 10 minutes out of halftime, but given Virginia Tech’s first quarter, the Hokies were able to cruise through the game with a solid lead until running away in the fourth.
At the start of the final frame, the first six field goals came from five separate Hokies, with Mel Daley knocking down two mid-range jumpers. The Hokies would outscore the Seminoles 20-12 in the fourth quarter to win by 25 points.
The Seminoles were led by Jasmine Shavers’ 19 points and eight boards, but the loss of offensive production from the injuries wasn’t enough for them to keep up. FSU shot 16-56 (29%) from the field and 4-15 (27%) from beyond the arc. Their effort from the free throw line didn’t help, as well as going 18-30 (60%).
It was quite the balanced offense for Virginia Tech with four Hokies scoring in double digits. After Baker’s 21, Nelson and Daley tallied double-doubles with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Mackenzie Nelson had a career game, scoring 18 points and dishing out 12 assists, while Mel Daley led the team with 10 rebounds. Carleigh Wenzel also had 11 points with three rebounds and two assists.
Nelson's performance in particular received some very high praise from head coach Megan Duffy after that.
“Phenomenal,” head coach Megan Duffy said of Nelson. “She had great balance, great energy, she’s feeling good. I thought her decision-making was tremendous.”
Mackenzie Nelson’s 12 assists were more than half of the team’s impressive assist tally, with 22 total assists on 32 buckets. The Hokies only had eight turnovers as well in what was an impressive offensive performance.
The Hokies held the lead for the whole game and had their largest margin of victory ever against the Seminoles.
The Hokies take on Radford in A New River Valley rivalry this Sunday in Cassell Coliseum, Tech's last non-conference game of the season.
