Virginia Tech blew out Presbyterian 92-36 on Wednesday night in Cassell Coliseum to bounce back from Sunday’s loss to Duke.
“Really liked our focus tonight,” Tech head coach Megan Duffy said. “I thought we were ready to play. Liked our bounce back from the Duke loss. It was great to see everybody get in the scoring column and put some great minutes on the board for us, and overall, just great team effort.”
The Hokies (8-3, 0-1 ACC) had no problem running away from the Blue Hose (2-9), the lowest-rated team in the country in the NCAA’s NET rankings at No. 363. They led 22-8 after the first quarter and didn’t look back.
After a tough opening quarter from the floor where Tech was just 7-for-21, it was more efficient in the second (52%, 11-for-21) and third (80%, 12-for-15) quarters. Meanwhile, Presbyterian made just five of its 26 looks in the first half (19%).
The Hokies shot 52 percent (38-for-73) for the game — and attempted 26 free throws, making 13 of them (50%) — while the Blue Hose was 24.5 percent (12-for-49).
All 11 of Tech’s available players saw the floor and scored. Starting point guard Mackenzie Nelson was not feeling well, according to Duffy, and was held out of the game, though she dressed out and was on the bench with the team. It’s the first game she’s missed this season. Duffy described it as “nothing serious.”
Sophomore guard Leila Wells started in her place and finished with career-high marks in points (13), assists (5) and steals (5) in 31 minutes. She was also 2-for-3 from behind the arc.
“I thought Leila was great,” Duffy said. “Her stat line — 13 points, five assists, zero turnovers — was awesome. I think the greatest thing about Leila is she just continues to buy into the selfless attitude of like whatever my team needs. She wants to defend. She’ll play whatever position on the floor we need her to. It was only a matter of time before she started hitting some of her threes.”
Redshirt sophomore guard Samyha Suffren led the Hokies in scoring with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting. A year ago, the Charlotte, N.C., product suffered a season-ending shoulder injury — a labrum tear where her capsule was also tightened.
She’s shown flashes of her old self this year, with double-digit performances vs. Towson (12 points), Gardner-Webb (17) and Niagara (13), but Thursday vs. Presbyterian was her best outing to date.
“It’s been hard, obviously, being out from the team,” Suffren said, “but just coming back, still trying to find the flow, just trying to get back into ‘Samyha mode.’ That’s really what it is, but my teammates are doing such a great job of helping me get back in the game and get back to that attack mentality faster. It’s really refreshing being back on the court and being part of the team again. That was ‘Samyha mode’ [tonight].”
Kilah Freelon added 13 points and seven rebounds while Purdue transfer Sophie Swanson played a season-high 21 minutes and added six points. The freshmen frontcourt duo of Aniya Trent and Amani Jenkins added nine and eight, respectively.
Slovenian import Špela Brecelj chipped in four points, as did sophomore forward Kayl Petersen.
“The freshmen have been killing it,” Suffren said, “especially in practice, and they’re just ready to go no matter when we need them in the game, and I love that about them. This was just a confidence booster.”
The starting trio of Carleigh Wenzel, Carys Baker and Mel Daley also combined for 18 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and four blocks.
Tech crushed the Blue Hose across the board. It dominated points in the paint (62-18), points off turnovers (41-2) and second-chance points (23-2) while leading for all but 25 seconds.
It’s the first time the Hokies won by 50-plus points since Dec. 31, 2023, vs. Pitt, a 91-41 margin.
“It was a gauntlet the last week and a half or so,” Duffy said, “and I think the biggest thing we’ve been talking about is how connected we have to be. We were pretty disappointed after the Duke game and the way we performed, and just really tried to stay together and talk through some of the mistakes we made, and how can we respond emotionally together? I thought that was really good tonight.”
They’re back in action on Sunday in Blacksburg vs. East Tennessee State at 4 p.m. ET as part of a doubleheader with men’s basketball, which hosts Maryland Eastern Shore at noon. After that, the women travel to Florida State for their second ACC game.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 92, Presbyterian 36