Less than two weeks ago, Virginia Tech (23-8, 12-6 ACC) overcame Georgia Tech (14-18, 8-10 ACC) after a poor shooting night, and they did just the same in their ACC Tournament rematch.
The Hokies went 1-for-16 to start the game but fought through it, winning 62-54 to advance to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament where they will face 3 seed North Carolina.
Virginia Tech only scored three points in the first 9:20, as Georgia Tech went on a 17-3 run until Carleigh Wenzel finally saw her shot go through the net with 40 seconds to go in the first quarter. She would add on another bucket to make it a 17-7 game after the first frame.
As the second quarter started, the Hokies picked up the pace. Starting with Wenzel’s final two buckets of the first quarter, VT went on a 28-6 run to finish off the first half. During the run Virginia Tech took the lead six minutes into the second frame after a Leila Well mid-range jumper. The lead, which they never gave back to the Yellow Jackets. Virginia Tech’s run was capped off with three straight buckets from Carys Baker, one being one from range, after missing her first eight shot attempts.
"Just really thrilled about our response after a really difficult start," Hokies head coach Megan Duffy said. "I thought we maybe were a little bit nervous trying to get our feet under us for the beginning of the tournament. But after that I thought we settled in, and defensively we were a lot better."
12 of those points came within the paint as they started to speed up the game and attack the rim. The Hokies put up 24 paint points in the game as they used their track-like speed to get looks closer to the rim.
After only scoring seven points in the first quarter, the lowest Virginia Tech scored all season, they held Georgia Tech to only six the following quarter. The defensive intensity picked up for the Hokies as they forced the Yellow Jackets into three shot clock violations in the second quarter. Virginia Tech took a 29-23 lead into the half.
"I think we came out not really communicating with each other, and I think that's a huge part of it," Mackenzie Nelson said on the defensive shift. “We came out of that time-out and we changed it, and that's why we went on a run and we got stops, and that's what allowed us to win this game today."
Once the second half started, both teams started to settle into the game, throwing punches back and forth. A Mackenzie Nelson three-pointer was matched with a Talayah Walker twice in a row.
That was part of a 14-point performance on 6-for-10 shooting from Mackenzie Nelson. She also added a career-high nine boards and six assists while also being a catalyst of the Hokies' early comeback.
The Hokies would hold a steady lead until another Talayah Walker three ignited a 11-2 run to bring the Yellow Jackets within two at the start of the fourth quarter.
Georgia Tech’s Talayah Walker had 20 points on 7-for-19 shooting while bringing down eight boards. She was one of the only two Yellow Jackets to notch double figures as Nyla Foster put up 12.
Virginia Tech wouldn’t let Georgia Tech come any closer with a Samyha Suffren jump shot and a Carleigh Wenzel three-pointer that would ultimately be the dagger. She would knock down another from range with just over two minutes to go to put the cap on this game.
Carleigh Wenzel was the one to pick the Hokies up late in the first quarter, leading to a team-high 15 points on 5-for-13 shooting. The two late threes were her only two of the game on six shots from beyond the arc.
Virginia Tech will have another meeting with North Carolina in the quarterfinals. The last time they played was in Cassell, where the Tar Heels came back late to steal a 66-63 win from the Hokies in overtime. The game will be played Friday at 7:30 p.m. on the ACC Network.
