Virginia Tech upset previously undefeated No. 13 Georgia Tech 105-94 in double overtime on Thursday in Atlanta for its second ACC win of the year.
“Absolutely incredible to go on the road against a ranked team and show the grit we did, just possession after possession,” Hokies head coach Megan Duffy told Evan Hughes on the Virginia Tech Sports Network after the game. “Obviously, we were down — not by a ton, but we just kind of hung in there, kept it close and some phenomenal plays to take the lead. We had a couple breakdowns at the end to send it into all these overtimes, but man, their will to win was incredible.”
It was the first ranked win of the Megan Duffy era for Virginia Tech (11-4, 2-2 ACC), who fought back from a second-half deficit and held off the Yellow Jackets (15-1, 3-1) in two extra periods.
The Hokies led 26-23 through the first quarter before the Yellow Jackets stormed back and took a 44-39 lead into halftime. It was an even third period, but VT couldn’t quite pull level and entered the fourth trailing 66-61.
The tide eventually turned, however. From that point on, Virginia Tech outscored Georgia Tech 19-14 in the fourth and seized back control, and it ultimately pulled away in the second overtime period with a 13-2 margin.
It was the third fourth-quarter comeback of the season for the Hokies, who were also down seven points at Georgia and seven points at Miami. Including the Georgia Tech game, they outscored those three opponents 92-49 (plus 43) over the remainder of those games and won all three.
It was a balanced effort across the board from VT, who only played seven players, four of whom were on the court for 45-plus minutes. The group shot 47 percent (37-of-79), limited GT to 47 percent (35-of-74) — including an 0-of-6 mark in the second overtime period — while knocking down 12 of its 27 3-pointers (44%) and only turning it over 10 times, its season-low. On top of that, it forced GT into 15 miscues.
The Hokies were 8-of-12 from the floor in the fourth quarter to turn the tide. A trey from Lani White, a triple from Carleigh Wenzel and a layup from White pulled them within three, and Wenzel’s three knotted things at 72 with 5:06 to play and forced the Yellow Jackets to call timeout.
Georgia Tech, led by the dynamic duo of Kara Dunn (33 points, 10 rebounds) and Tonie Morgan (28 points, five rebounds, four assists) responded with four quick points, but Virginia Tech used an 8-0 run — which featured two buckets from Rose Micheaux — to go up 80-76 with 1:06 remaining in regulation. Georgia Tech was without star freshman Dani Carnegie, its leading scorer, for the majority of the second half after she left with an injury at the 8:11 mark in the third quarter.
The chaos continued, though, as Dunn and Morgan each got layups down to the tie game for the Yellow Jackets. VT had a chance in the final 10 seconds of the fourth that didn’t fall, sending it to overtime.
It was a fast-paced and explosive first overtime period that saw Carys Baker knock down her second and third 3-pointers of the night for the Hokies. It appeared they were going to pull away for good with Georgia Tech in a tough spot and having to foul with a minute to go, especially after Wenzel drained four free throws in the final 16 seconds with a Morgan layup sandwiched in between.
The Yellow Jackets had other ideas, though. Trailing 92-89, they missed a trey to tie but got the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Rusne Augustinaite, who nailed a three from the wing at the buzzer to force double overtime.
That potential dagger and sudden momentum swing might’ve put some teams away for good, but Virginia Tech wasn’t fazed. Instead, it responded with its best stretch of the game to close things out.
“Every overtime huddle, we just said, ‘Go back to execution,’” Duffy said. “‘Go steal a win, keep believing in each other.’ I just thought we shared the ball, we made big plays, made a couple free throws. Rose was awesome right when we needed her, when things were breaking down. … But for Rose to do what she did today, Carleigh was awesome in the beginning of the game. I mean, for this to happen, everybody’s got to do some awesome things.”
The Hokies scored on their first three possessions — two buckets from White and one from Micheaux — to push Georgia Tech away for good. All the Yellow Jackets could muster was two free throws while Virginia Tech stretched the final margin to 11.
Wenzel led VT with 24 points and a career-high 10 assists, good for her first career double-double, along with three rebounds and three steals. She turned it over just twice in 48 minutes, with both of those coming in the first quarter. Micheaux posted a season-high 20 points and 12 rebounds. White finished with 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
All five starters scored in double figures, including Matilda Ekh and Baker, who added 17 each and were both 3-of-7 from behind the arc. They combined for 11 boards too. Mackenzie Nelson also came off the bench and chipped in seven points, three rebounds and two assists.
It was the most points the Hokies have ever scored on the road in an ACC contest. While they trailed for nearly 30 minutes, they stayed within striking distance, and in the final minutes when it mattered most, they were the better team.
It the victory continued a great week for VT. After starting league play 0-2, which included a 105-74 drubbing at the hands of Florida State, the team bounced back in impressive fashion and found a way to gut out a victory at Miami on Sunday before Thursday night’s emphatic win in Atlanta — which is currently a Quadrant 1 victory.
“This was pretty cool, just on the road in ACC play,” Duffy said. “Everybody tells me it’s hard every night, but I’m just really proud of the resolve, the maturity of our team. After that Florida State game, we just keep talking about who we want to be every day, and they showed it today.”
Can the Hokies keep it rolling? They’ve got Wake Forest on tap at home on Sunday (2 p.m. ET) before hosting in-state rival Virginia next Thursday (6 p.m. ET). Those teams have a combined 17-14 (2-6 ACC) record.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 105, No. 13 Georgia Tech 94
ACC Standings: Click here