Virginia Tech ran past UNC Asheville Wednesday night in an 85-62 win in Cassell Coliseum, a nice bounce-back performance after Sunday’s loss to Iowa.
“Happy to get the win,” Tech head coach Megan Duffy said. “It was nice to get on the court after Sunday’s tough loss. … Overall, some positive things for sure.”
The Hokies (2-1) gradually separated themselves from the Bulldogs (0-2) in a choppy game that featured 48 fouls and 38 turnovers — 27 and 23 of which came in the first half, respectively.
Tech was very sloppy early, turning it over five times on its first six possessions, but Duffy subbed in redshirt freshman guard Mackenzie Nelson, who settled things down and helped the team get into more of a flow.
“I think Mack came in and made a huge difference for us,” Hokies guard Carleigh Wenzel said. “We started off really slow, but Mack came in and got three really good charges for us. I think we didn’t get up the way we wanted to start the game, we were pretty relaxed, but once we got up and started pushing tempo and getting up on defense and jumping passing lanes, I think that helped us get into our offense a little bit better.”
The Greenwich, Conn., native, has come on strong in the first three games. Nelson has eight steals in that span and has helped set the tone for Tech defensively, all while providing a nice level of comfortability on the offensive end. She didn’t light up the stat sheet against Asheville but did a little bit of everything — she finished with two points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Wenzel called her the team’s “energizer.”
“The fact that she jumped out on the ballhandler and got a couple charges was great,” Duffy said of Nelson. “You could see the energy of some of her teammates picking some things up, so I think that turned a little bit of the momentum down, but that’s what our young guys are figuring out. There’s going to be up and down moments with what they do, but the small things are really celebrated in our program.”
While Nelson provided the initial spark, her backcourt teammates in Wenzel and Samyha Suffren put the hammer down. Both had career nights, led by Wenzel’s 25 points.
The redshirt sophomore from San Antonio, Texas, paced the Hokies for the second straight game, knocking down eight of her 14 field goal attempts and nine of her 10 free throws. She also added eight rebounds and three steals — both career-bests.
She’s thriving as Tech’s starting point guard after her minutes fluctuated last season as she came off the bench. Through three contests this year, she’s averaging 17.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in 26.3 minutes per game.
“I’m in a different role this year,” Wenzel said. “I know I had it in me last year; that just wasn’t my role, that’s not what they needed me to do. And so this year, just trying to let the team know I’ve got them and that’s something I’m going to try to bring every night. It might not fall every night, but that’s something I’m planning on doing.
“I was kind of frustrated with myself after Iowa because I felt like there were small looks that we had, there were small reads that I was missing, so just seeing the ball go in the net for me today was something that I feel like I needed, especially coming off of Iowa.”
Meanwhile, Suffren posted a career-high 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. The versatile athlete from Charlotte, N.C., has gotten downhill seamlessly so far this year and adds a unique driving element to this Tech bunch, which was on display against UNC Asheville.
The Hokies have a very talented trio of point guards who are thriving in Duffy’s up-tempo system and have been on the same page so far. When Nelson, Suffren and Wenzel have been on the floor together this year, Tech has outscored its opponents 54-32, made 64 percent (16-of-25) of its field goal attempts and forced 13 turnovers.
Duffy’s used many lineups and is still finding combinations that work, but those three have worked well together so far, from the on-ball pressure on the defensive end to how they operate offensively and can get out and run.
“It’s just fun,” Suffren said. “We all can run, we’re all fast and we all can handle the ball. We all can shoot, we all can make pull-ups, we all can get to the basket when we want to, so we just read off each other. … We just know where each other are, so it’s really easy and really fun to play with each other.”
They were a big reason why the Hokies were so successful offensively against the Bulldogs. Despite the giveaways, Tech was fine offensively, knocking down 32 of its 54 shots (59.3%), while holding Asheville to 36.5 percent from the floor (23-of-63).
Duffy & Co. broke the game open in the first quarter, jumping out to a quick 18-6 lead through 10 minutes. The difference at halftime was stark: a 41-22 cushion for VT, who shot 63.6 percent to Asheville’s 20.7 percent. Tech looked pretty good once it calmed down.
“It was such a different game in style,” Duffy said. “We knew Asheville was going to try and pressure and try and turn you over, they do a good job of getting points off of turnovers, so different than what Iowa did. We had to take care of the ball, and you could see in that first quarter there were a few too many turnovers for us, so it was a little bit actually like settling down from the Iowa game into just a new scout and a new mindset and not have a hangover of what happened on Sunday.”
The veterans rounded things out for Tech. Rose Micheaux had 11 points (5-of-8 FG) and four rebounds in 17 minutes while Matilda Ekh, after a quiet 1-of-6 outing vs. Iowa, responded with a 13-point, four-rebound, two-assist night against the Bulldogs.
Other players chipped in too. True freshman forward Kayl Petersen posted 10 points (4-of-5), five rebounds and two blocks in her second double-digit outing. Carys Baker dished out a team-high four assists to go with six points and three boards. Utah transfer Lani White added four points, too, while freshman Leila Wells had a bucket in transition.
The Hokies also got 6-foot-5 center Ramiya White some minutes. The freshman from Louisville, Ky., has practiced well and earned the opportunity to play, according to Duffy. She corralled four rebounds in 11 minutes.
“I think Ramiya deserved time today,” Duffy said. “She’s really been focusing in on getting her body right and healthy, doing extra workouts. I think she proved it in practice. Even though she didn’t play vs. Iowa, I thought she had a great week leading up to it and it’s a little bit of our team — if you work your tail end off at practice, there’s going to be opportunities at different times to come in.
“We talk a lot about that, that you might not always get exactly what you want sometimes with playing time but the way you work and approach it, I’m just very proud of her. We celebrated her in the locker room at halftime and after the game. … Just really happy to see her make her debut.”
Tech is back in Cassell Coliseum at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday vs. Coppin State before a steady uptick in competition on Tuesday vs. Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights venture to Blacksburg for the return leg of the home-and-home agreement that saw the Hokies play in Piscataway last December.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 85, UNC Asheville 62
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