The Stanford Cardinal (14-12, 6-9 ACC) traveled across the country to knock off the Virginia Tech Hokies (16-10, 7-8 ACC) 75-74 in overtime, thanks to a phenomenal 30-point performance from Stanford’s Chloe Clardy.
“I thought Stanford was tremendous,” Virginia Tech head coach Megan Duffy said. “I thought their energy, their toughness, to just hang around and continue to make big plays down the stretch was great. Congratulations to them and their kids for what they did today.”
Clardy, who averaged 9.4 points entering the contest, completely shocked Tech’s defense. Her 30 points on 11-18 shooting set a season-high in points for the 5’9” sophomore, and it felt like she treated Tech’s defense like Stanford’s practice squad.
“She was tremendous, got downhill when she wanted. That three by their bench late was a dagger,” Duffy said. “She just continued to step up and make plays for her team, you know, hit free throws when she needed to. She played like the best player on the floor tonight. “
She had only nine points at halftime and just three in the third quarter, but she turned on the gas in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 points while carefully choosing her spots on the floor.
“We just ended up getting tight,” senior forward Rose Micheaux said. “We started overthinking a lot of stuff that we were doing.
Yet, despite the loss, Tech controlled the Cardinal for the first three quarters, and that was mainly thanks to two players: Rose Micheaux and Matilda Ekh.
“We executed in the first three quarters, so it shows that we know we are capable of doing,” Micheaux said. “If we stick to the gameplan, we are capable of winning a game, pulling through and having things unravel in the way that we want it to.
Ekh was perfect from the field in the first half, scoring 13 points on 6-6 shooting and helping to propel the Hokies to a 7-point lead at the midway point.
Micheaux, who missed three games due to a concussion in practice, made a statement on the boards in her second game back, grabbing nine points by halftime on her way to her seventh double-double of the season. She finished the contest with a team-high 21 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
Ekh followed closely in her footsteps, tallying 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and dishing out a team-high five assists. However, it wasn't enough to fend off the Cardinal comeback.
“I think our execution just wasn't good. I thought we got tight,” Duffy said. “Stanford just continued to hang around, made some big shots downhill, made a three, but then our execution was very, very weak. We got a couple of good looks we just didn't finish. Missed a couple of free throws.”
This game leaves the Hokies right on the heart of the bubble, with ESPN currently having VT as the last team in.
Tech will host California (22-6, 10-5 ACC) on Sunday in what is the Hokies' final regular-season home game. It’s a game that presents a major opportunity to boost their bubble resume and fix some of what cost them against Stanford.
“There were bad things, and there were also good things that happened, so all we can do is learn from it,” Micheaux said. “We have a game on Sunday, so we can't dwell on it for too long, but we have to most definitely learn from it, watch it, and see where we can get better from.”
