PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Hokies won their third ACC road game on Thursday night in an 84-57 victory over Pitt in the Petersen Events Center.
Virginia Tech (14-5, 5-3 ACC) brought its own energy in an empty arena — only 196 fans were in attendance — and was well-rounded against the Panthers (9-12, 1-7).
“It’s all we talked about for three days about the high emotions in Cassell [Coliseum] with Liz Kitley weekend and the big win against Louisville,” Hokies head coach Megan Duffy told Tech Sideline after the victory. “Led by our seniors, of like, ‘You have to bring your energy.’ We were doing some new defensive chants on the bench. ... Anybody who was in a Hokie uniform or had VT on their chest, we were trying to bring the energy.
“We had moments the last couple of days where we dropped, but I think that’s what I was most proud about with them today — just keeping that standard high, regardless of the atmosphere.”
The Hokies set the tone on the defensive end, where Rose Micheaux stonewalled Pitt’s Khadija Faye for 40 minutes. One of the best bigs in the league, she entered the day averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds per game and had only been held to single digits three times this year (and not in over a month). Tech limited her to just seven points on 3-of-12 and four rebounds. She also turned the ball over once and had four personal fouls.
When Faye caught the ball in the post, the Hokies immediately sent a double team. Outside of a handful of possessions where they were caught watching the ball and Pitt slipped a backdoor pass by, the strategy worked and they really shut down the Panthers’ focal point.
“We just talked about like, in our scout and our prep, it’s just meeting them with physicality, but not too much because we don’t want foul trouble,” Micheaux said. “But meeting with physicality, playing with heart and our effort and just giving our all on every single play, and then we’d have the outcome in our favor.”
Things clicked offensively, too. The Hokies shared the ball extremely well, finishing with 21 assists on 32 made baskets. And, even more impressive, they tied a program record for fewest turnovers in a single game with just six. Entering Thursday, their lowest mark this season was 10 (twice — vs. Rutgers, at Georgia Tech).
“Just the poise we played with and playing together and sharing the ball,” Matilda Ekh said. “… That’s really, really good for us. That’s a big step for us, so I’m just really proud of the way we handled the ball and played together.”
Though the difference in shooting percentage wasn’t terribly far off — 43 percent for VT (32-of-75) to 39 percent (22-of-56) for Pitt — Tech was a terrific 13-of-26 from behind the arc.
Ekh led the way in that category by knocking down four of her seven attempts while Lani White was 3-of-5. Carys Baker and Carleigh Wenzel also got in on the action and were both 2-of-4. On top of that, Mackenzie Nelson and Leila Wells each made one in the second half.
“I really think it was because we were sharing the ball so well,” Ekh said. “We were finding each other when we were open, so a lot of the shots we got were very balanced and they were the right shots to take in our offense.”
One of the areas Tech demolished Pitt was on the boards. It was plus-22 on the glass with a 51-29 margin, 18 of which were offensive rebounds — a big reason why it took 19 more shots than the Panthers.
Though the team rebounded well as a whole — from Baker’s seven to Ekh’s six — Micheaux was terrific with 15, once again one-upping Faye. Seven of those were on the offensive end. It was her seventh double-digit rebounding performance this season and her third in January.
“It shows our growth because there were a lot of times where our rebounding wasn’t the best,” Micheaux said, “but to see that we can just move on from something and keep pushing, it just shows growth — the fact that we can lock in and put our minds to something and execute so well.”
The Hokies’ only lull on Thursday came late in the third quarter when, leading by 29, Pitt ripped off a 10-0 run. However, they responded well in the fourth to close things out. They made nine of their 18 field goals in the final period and the lead ballooned to 30 points.
It was the third time in seven January contests that all five starters were in double figures, too.
Wenzel had a team-high 16 points with four rebounds while White dropped 15 points to go with three assists and two boards. Meanwhile, Ekh notched 14 points and Baker posted 13.
Still, the best performance of the night came from Micheaux. The ACC Player of the Week in early January, she’s averaging 14.6 points and 9.7 rebounds while shooting 57.9 percent since the calendar flipped to 2025.
Tech’s bench also rounded things out well. To combat Faye and spell Micheaux in certain moments, Duffy played freshman center Ramiya White for seven minutes. She held her own with two points — off an offensive rebound — and three boards.
Nelson was sharp running the show, especially in the second quarter when Wenzel sat with two fouls, and had five points, five assists, four rebounds and did not turn it over.
Wells hit her aforementioned trey while Kayl Petersen hauled in three boards to go with two points. All nine available players scored for Tech. It was without freshman forward Myah Hazelton (illness), who did not travel, per the team’s spokesman.
The Hokies have now won five of their last six games — three of which have come away from home and two against teams in the top half of the conference (Georgia Tech and Louisville). The road only gets tougher, though, with two top-25 squads on tap in the next week at No. 20 NC State (Sunday) and vs. No. 3 Notre Dame (next Thursday).
“I think we’re making steps,” Duffy said. “We’re just trying to be the same every day. I think that’s one of our biggest goals. It will be, obviously, a really cool atmosphere at NC State, always a tough place to play, very talented. I look forward to it.
“It’s nice to get some road wins to keep our confidence going, that we can go into hostile environments or an environment where anything can happen, so we’re going to stay focused and get some rest, get back to class tomorrow and reset ourselves.”
Box Score: Virginia Tech 84, Pitt 57
Thoughts from #Hokies' 84-57 win at Pitt: pic.twitter.com/fjcwqeSY6b
— David Cunningham (@therealdcunna) January 24, 2025