With five-and-a-half minutes left in Tuesday night’s contest in Cassell Coliseum, Virginia Tech trailed Rutgers 70-69. It had been a back-and-forth game to that point featuring 22 lead changes and runs from both sides.
Then the Hokies pulled away. In what felt like a flash, they went from holding off the Scarlet Knights to breaking away from them in their 91-80 victory. In Rose Micheaux’s words, they showed character.
“It shows the toughness that we have, the grit that we have, the heart, the will to keep competing,” Micheaux said. “To know that when adversity hits, all we can do is count on each other and just keep pushing through it.”
That’s exactly what Tech (4-1) did to come out on top against a team with the nation’s leading scorer in Destiny Adams. Though Rutgers (4-1) finished in the Big Ten’s cellar last year, it’s an improved group headlined by Adams, a double-figure rebounder in Chyna Cornwell and a top-30 freshman in Kiyomi McMiller — Tuesday night’s leading scorer with 24 points.
After an early benchmark in the Ally Tipoff vs. Iowa, this was another test for the Hokies, which they passed — a good sign in the first few weeks of the Megan Duffy era.
Tech really turned it up a notch over the final stretch. After struggling in the first half offensively, it headed into the break tied at 36 before coming out of the locker room on fire. Rutgers found its offensive rhythm too and the two traded blows before the home side iced the game with a late 12-0 run.
Carleigh Wenzel knocked down a 3-pointer to snatch back the lead with 5:02 to play and Tech was off from there. Matilda Ekh got a layup to fall before drilling a mid-range jumper, and then Samyha Suffren took over, scoring off a baseline out-of-bounds play and going coast-to-coast to convert an old fashioned three-point play to put the game out of reach.
“Something just came out of us,” Suffren said. “We just saw the score and said, ‘OK, we can do this.’”
Rutgers head coach Coquese Washington called timeout with 2:49 remaining and Virginia Tech leading 81-70, but it was too late. The Hokies cruised from there en route to their biggest win yet under Duffy.
“I thought we did a really nice job of just executing a couple things we worked on in practice,” Duffy said of the winning stretch. “I thought Samyha used her speed to create and get downhill, I thought Matilda came out and hit a couple big shots for us. … These are the goals we’re trying to have of sharing the ball, moving the ball, trying to get multiple people in double figures and be balanced, I think that’s what we saw today.
“Rose [Micheaux] had some timely offensive rebounds, which was great. Again, even in the flow of 40 minutes where there were some up-and-down moments, I thought as a team, we stepped up for each other at different points, and then the building got loud and the building was behind us and our fan base was behind us, and I thought that gave us a little bit of extra energy.”
Everyone shared the wealth in Tech’s win, headlined by four double-digit scorers. Wenzel led the way with 19 points behind three treys and 8-of-10 shooting from the foul line, and she finished the game strong (4-of-6 in the second half) after missing all 11 of her first-half shots. She also added a career-high five steals along with three rebounds and three assists.
It was a similar situation for Micheaux, who recorded her second straight double-double with 16 points and 17 rebounds — nine of which came on the offensive glass. She was the driving force behind the Hokies beating the Scarlet Knights 41-33 on the boards — an impressive mark against one of the best rebounding squads in the nation — and though she was 3-of-13 in the first half, she was 5-of-7 in the second.
That’s part of why Micheaux praised the character and culture of the team after the victory. It wasn’t pretty for the entire 40 minutes, but the Hokies stayed the course, toughed it out and took care of business.
“I thought they were really in-tune with our coaching staff and adjustments,” Duffy said. “I thought even through some rough moments, they were positive. Just kept believing in each other. Rose said character, I’m right there with her. These are important in the non-conference to build that character and build those moments in the game where you can reference back and say, ‘Hey, remember when we called timeout against Rutgers and we went on that run? That’s what we’ve got to do right now.’
“Even for the future, that’s going to help us, and they found some success with it. I think that’s really big. Even against Iowa, we didn’t find some success with that, so for a young team and other players in new roles, for them to grow with that, I thought everybody was very focused on trying to do their job and their role at a high level, especially in that second half.”
All eight players contributed for Tech. Suffren had career-high marks in points (16) and rebounds (6) while dishing out four assists and not turning the ball over once. She and Mackenzie Nelson (8 points, 2 steals, 2 assists) really settled things down in the backcourt and helped control the flow in the second half.
Ekh chipped in a key 13 points while true freshman Kayl Petersen had eight — six of which came off two important triples — and Utah transfer Lani White posted six.
After shooting 13-of-44 (29.5%) and giving the ball away seven times in the first half, the Hokies turned things around after intermission, hitting on 22 of their 36 attempts (61.1%) and committing just three turnovers. That’s a credit to everyone being on the same page and cleaning up some small things.
“I thought we missed a lot of easy baskets in the first half,” Duffy said. “I thought Rose was relentless on the glass all came long, just missed a couple of bunnies and chippies. At halftime, we just talked to her about staying composed and she’s doing the right things and that stuff will start to fall. I thought that was an important piece, and Carleigh was a little off too, got some good looks and just didn’t go in.
“But that’s the thing I just continue to say I’m proud of them about: They were resilient when it got a little rough and a little tough.”
Tech weathered some brief storms throughout the game, like when McMiller hit two 3-pointers in 90 seconds to put the Scarlet Knights up two scores with 3:50 left in the third. In the end, though, the Hokies did it through their defense, which started with Carys Baker.
The West Hartford, Conn., native was tasked with slowing down Adams, who entered Tuesday averaging 27 points and 14 rebounds per game. Foul trouble was a factor, but Baker limited Adams to just 18 points and six boards while forcing five turnovers.
“Carys balled out,” Suffren said of her sophomore teammate, who had five points, three rebounds and a block. “She had one job and she did that job excellent. She did so well. When the game was over, we all screamed and started pushing her. Even though it didn’t show on the stats, it showed on the scoreboard.”
In all, it was a balanced win for the Hokies in which they answered the bell in the fourth quarter and everyone stepped up. The competition will undoubtedly get tougher as the season progresses, but they made strides in their first close game under Duffy, gutting out a victory in impressive fashion.
“Some of the mistakes we made in the Iowa game, I thought we overcame them today,” Duffy said. “On a few of the runs, we called timeout and I thought our team really responded. … I can’t say how proud I am of my team, the way they sustained a lot of runs and battled through some adversity today.”
Box Score: Virginia Tech 91, Rutgers 80
Thoughts from the #Hokies' 91-80 win over Rutgers: pic.twitter.com/wtHq2hdmVO
— David Cunningham (@therealdcunna) November 20, 2024