Virginia Tech bounced back from back-to-back losses by crushing Syracuse 77-57 on Thursday in Upstate New York.
"Very, very, very proud of our toughness, our competitiveness, our heart to play," Hokies head coach Megan Duffy told Evan Hughes on the Virginia Tech Sports Network. "Yes, there's a game plan in all this, but the way we came out after two really difficult days of practice to get them locked back in, just phenomenal effort all the way around."
The Hokies (12-5, 2-3 ACC) dominated from start to finish. They opened the game by punching first, knocking down their first two 3-pointers in the opening period from Mackenzie Nelson and Carleigh Wenzel, which helped them jump out to an early 22-15 lead.
Tech piled on in the second quarter, holding the Orange (13-3, 3-2) scoreless for 8:16 while scoring the period's first 11 points. In the blink of an eye, it led 33-15 with 4:07 until halftime. Syracuse went from the 1:04 mark of the first quarter to the 3:40 mark of the second without a point.
The Orange had a 6-0 run to end the half and cut the margin to 35-23 at intermission, but the Hokies came out on fire again to start the third quarter.
Nelson opened things up with two free throws, a steal and a fast-break layup, forcing Syracuse to call timeout down 44-25. It went on a 6-0 run out of the media timeout later in the period, highlighted by a Sophie Burrows 3-pointer, but the two sides traded baskets the rest of the way. After 30 minutes, Tech led 62-41.
It closed things out behind three fourth-quarter 3-pointers â two from Wenzel, one from Baker. It also played good defense, and the closest the Orange got was 18.
The Hokies neutralized Syracuse's biggest strength: the glass. It was 39-all in that category, an impressive mark for Tech against a team averaging 44.5 per game, the 15th-best number in the country. The Orange also entered Thursday averaging 18.5 offensive boards per game, and though it had 15, the Hokies owned second-chance points 14-10.
Syracuse plays through Uche Izoje, its 6-foot-3 freshman center who is averaging 13.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. She had 14 and seven against Tech while turning the ball over four times and making just five of her 13 shots.
The Hokies also limited Burrows, the Orange's sharpshooter who lit them up for 28 points on 8-for-12 3-point shooting last February in Cassell Coliseum. This time around, she had seven points and three turnovers while making just three of her 13 shots, including just one of her six from deep.
"We have it in us," Duffy said, "and it's just a matter of figuring out, day after day, in the grind of January, whatever you want to call it, to stay connected. And I'm proud of our players, our leadership group, for getting on board with what we wanted as a coaching staff, and I thought there was so much more execution on both sides of the ball. That's a really good Syracuse team that's going to win a lot of games, and we had to come out and really work one possession at a time with an intensity about us, and I'm very happy with it."
On the other side, Tech had five double-figure scorers. Wenzel had an efficient day, racking up 18 points and making all four of her treys while adding six rebounds and five assists. Samyha Suffren accounted for 16 points off the bench on 7-for-11 shooting. Baker tallied 13 points (5-for-11) and six boards while Kilah Freelon had 12 points (4-for-8), six rebounds and two blocks inside.
Nelson also posted a game-high three steals to go with her 13 points and five assists, all while getting an opportunity to play against her sister, Camdyn Nelson. The freshman point guard for Syracuse checked in with 1:44 remaining in the contest.
The Hokies shot 45 percent for the game and were 6-for-9 from long range. Meanwhile, the Orange was 35 percent overall and 3-for-12 on 3-point attempts.
It's a Quadrant 1 victory for Tech, its first of the season after losses to Duke and Louisville. It returns to Blacksburg on Sunday to host Boston College at noon ET (ACC Network).
Box Score: Virginia Tech 77, Syracuse 57