Lani White and the Hokies dominated Radford on Sunday. (Jon Fleming)

In their first game in Cassell Coliseum in 22 days, the Hokies put on a show and dominated Radford 73-34.

“Just really proud of our team today,” Virginia Tech head coach Megan Duffy said after the win. “I thought our defense made some huge improvements from last week. I was really proud of the week of practice we had to get ready for this Radford game.”

The Hokies (8-3) took a few minutes to find their footing and trailed the Highlanders (1-10) 6-3 after the first three-plus minutes. However, a 3-pointer from Lani White kicked things into gear and they used a 14-0 spurt through the end of the first quarter to run away with it.

Tech led 17-6 after 10 minutes and cruised the rest of the way. An 11-0 run made it 28-8 halfway through the second quarter. At halftime, it was a 39-12 cushion. It scored the first 10 points of the third, too, and stretched the margin to 37. The biggest lead of the afternoon came with 1:21 remaining in the contest when a trey from White put the Hokies up 41.

“I think we came out and it wasn’t what we prepared for in terms of how we wanted to come out,” Tech guard Carleigh Wenzel said. “So right after that first timeout, I think just settling down and understanding how we wanted the game to go and that it was our game to kind of push tempo and set the tone.”

White and Wenzel were outstanding for Tech with 23 and 22 points, respectively. They were a combined 9-of-11 from the outside and a big reason why the team finished 11-of-22. White’s mark was a career-high and she was 7-of-10 from the field, a perfect 3-of-3 from deep and 6-of-8 from the foul line. Meanwhile, Wenzel hit a career-best six treys and finished 8-of-15 from the floor.

They combined for 45 points, 11 more than Radford had as a team.

“Starting off with Lani, her week of practice was great,” Duffy said. “Just filling out the stat sheet with her rebounding, assists, just all of the small things, and then it’s really cool just to watch her offensive progression. She’s getting confident. Has always been a three-level scorer for us [since] she walked through our doors, but it’s just a matter of getting those minutes in games and feeling confident that she can do it.

After a slow first few minutes, Carleigh Wenzel and the Hokies picked it up and blew Radford's doors off. (Jon Fleming)

“And then Carleigh got hot for a couple stretches in the game and I thought our team did a really good job of finding her for that extra pass and [the] shot looked good and it went in.”

Defense was the key for the Hokies, though. While their offense took some time to get going, they were locked in on the other end for nearly all 40 minutes. The Highlanders made just 22 percent (13-of-59) of their shots and weren’t better than 28 percent in any period. They also didn’t finish with a double-figure scorer and were an abysmal 3-of-19 in the final period.

While the competition took a dip, it was a much better performance from Tech after it allowed then-No. 8 Duke to shoot 52 percent a week ago. The group harped on defensive improvement in practice leading up to Radford, which was evident on Sunday.

“I just thought we were active,” Duffy said. “I thought we worked really hard to get over screens and be in the right position. We talked about really having great effort but being disciplined with that, and minus a couple possessions where they went backdoor a couple times, I thought we pushed them out and made their shots pretty difficult.”

Tech still had some sloppy moments offensively — it turned the ball over 17 times, 10 of which came in the second half (including seven in the fourth quarter) — but the game was already out of hand. When it wasn’t giving it away, it finished with 18 assists on 25 made baskets. It also shot 46 percent overall (25-of-55).

Matilda Ekh was the Hokies’ third-leading scorer with 11 points while Kayl Petersen added eight. Carys Baker chipped in four points to go with a career-high eight rebounds. Mackenzie Nelson only had two points but was an excellent facilitator with a career-high nine assists and grabbed five boards.

Sophomore guard Samyha Suffren did not play against Radford due to a shoulder injury and is day-to-day moving forward, according to Duffy — she was seen with her right arm in a sling on Sunday — which, combined with the big lead, meant more time in the backcourt for true freshman guard Leila Wells. She finished with three points, a career-high three boards, an assist and a block.

Megan Duffy's team responded well in its first game back after last Sunday's loss at Duke. (Jon Fleming)

Rose Micheaux also had a quiet, yet solid evening. The Highlanders keyed in on her and clogged the lane, which worked to some degree — she missed all four of her field goals. However, that opened things up on the outside for the Hokies, who converted those looks, and Micheaux still hauled in 10 rebounds and blocked three shots.

“I thought Rose hung in there,” Duffy said. “Maybe wasn’t her best offensive night with getting the ball or scoring the ball, but her rebounding was good. She moved the ball in different ways. I thought Rose also had a great week of practice, and maybe it didn’t show in the stat sheet, but I thought her presence on the practice floor was really good after the Duke game.”

The victory was Tech’s 31st in the 40-game series between New River Valley foes that dates back to 1976. The Hokies have won the last 12 meetings, a streak that began in 2008.

Duffy & Co. have one game left in the calendar year vs. Campbell on Saturday, Dec. 21. After the Christmas break, they’ll jump back into ACC play in Blacksburg vs. Florida State on Jan. 2. The Seminoles (10-2, 1-0 ACC) received votes in the latest AP poll.

Box Score: Virginia Tech 73, Radford 34