Carys Baker and the Hokies won their third straight game by 20-plus points on Thursday in Dallas. (Virginia Tech athletics)

DALLAS — Virginia Tech notched its third straight win on Thursday in Moody Coliseum by hammering SMU 79-42.

“I thought our energy and intensity on the defensive end was really good, especially that third quarter,” Hokies head coach Megan Duffy told Tech Sideline. “We opened it up and got some great stops. They were down a few people today, so there’s some different lineups from them, so they’re a little bit bigger, more physical. They lost a couple guards, I think, to injury or illness or something, but you have to take advantage of it on the road, so overall, [I] was happy.”

The Hokies (14-5, 4-3 ACC) fought off the scrappy Mustangs (7-11, 0-6), who changed up their defense and pressed in certain moments. It was back-and-forth through the first seven minutes, but a 6-0 Tech run to end the quarter provided some breathing room, and the margin only grew from there.

It was a similar second quarter, where the Hokies’ 8-2 run after the media timeout put them up 32-19 at intermission. Despite only shooting 35 percent, they held SMU to just six field goals on 22 percent shooting.

Tech wore out the outmanned home team, though. For the eighth straight game, the Mustangs were without Tyi Skinner, who was tied for the team lead with 13.6 points per game. They had limited depth with Mailen Rolf, Elise Hill and Roxy White out, while key pieces Kyla Deck, Jzaniya Harriel and Paulina Paris were game-time decisions but did not play.

That was evident in the second half when the Hokies blitzed them to start the third quarter and the game turned for good. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Carys Baker and Carleigh Wenzel forced SMU head coach Adia Barnes to call timeout.

“Our goal was to wear them out a little bit,” Duffy said, “and I thought overall, even in the first half, we weren’t capitalizing on some of their turnovers. I thought we struggled to put the ball in the basket. I thought we were just moving way too fast and kind of settled in, and some of those same possessions in the first half, we were able to execute a little bit more in the second half.”

The Hokies pushed the lead to 22 points after a three and a layup from Baker, plus a layup from Kilah Freelon, but SMU responded with its own 7-0 run heading into the media timeout.

Tech went six minutes without a field goal but made eight free throws over that span. It finished the period with layups from Wenzel and Samyha Suffren that made it a 24-point cushion. It started the fourth hot, too, with a Suffren layup, a Baker trey and a Daley layup.

“It’s just remembering what Coach Duffy says about our identity,” Suffren said. “When you come out, no matter what time of the game, we have to come out with pressure. Get the defense rattled, and then once we get our defense going, the team starts going, and it just makes it more enjoyable to play when the defense gets up and we start getting hype and we start sharing the ball. We’re smiling on the court. Just making sure we continue with our identity.”

That extended the run to 15-0 and gave the Hokies a 64-33 lead with eight minutes remaining. SMU did not score for 5:43, and it was a 22-9 fourth quarter in Tech’s favor.

The Hokies limited the Mustangs to just 12-for-54 (22.2%) from the field and only allowed three triples on 18 attempts, two of which came from SMU leading scorer Anaya Brown. She accounted for 22 points and nine rebounds and was 10-for-10 from the foul line.

It’s the first time since Jan. 3, 2016, vs. Boston College that Tech held an ACC opponent to 12 or fewer made field goals. The last time it happened on the road in conference play? Jan. 2, 2012, at Clemson.

“We looked a little tentative in the first quarter, as well as the second quarter,” Suffren said. “Coach Duffy was like, ‘Just play. Just go out there and play like how we practice.’ … We went out there and just started playing.”

Tech finished with 29 points off SMU’s 22 turnovers and had 22 fastbreak points. It found ways to get consistent stops, which created easy transition opportunities. That helped its shooting percentage, which blossomed to 50 percent (17-for-34) in the second half as they outscored the Mustangs 47-23.

Suffren played a pivotal role. She racked up a career-high 18 points on 7-for-15 shooting while adding four free throws, five boards, three steals and two blocks.

She’s been dynamite as of late with three double-figure performances in her last four outings and has provided a spark off the bench. Her ball pressure is one-of-a-kind, too.

“I think she’s confident,” Duffy said of Suffren. “I think she’s settling into her role, and we always felt like the more she could be on the court and get that experience after being out last year, the better she would keep getting. She’s just been a great spark, and it’s nice when you have somebody like her and Mel that can now come off the bench and give that to us, and Leila [Wells] was doing that before when she was coming off the bench. We’ve just got to continue to keep developing them and keep their confidence high.”

“It was more of me stopping thinking and just playing,” Suffren said. “I remember I talked to Coach [Sharnee Zoll] about it. She sees me on the court when we watch film, when I catch the ball, I look more like, ‘OK, what’s next?’ or I’m thinking about what’s going to be the next play instead of being in the moment and just playing.”

Freelon also matched Suffren’s 18 points and corralled nine rebounds while posting three steals and two blocks. The former Texas Tech forward has familial ties to the Lone Star State, and along with Wenzel, a San Antonio native, played in front of relatives on Thursday.

“They don’t get to come along just because I’m at a farther school now,” Freelon said, “but I’m very excited we got to play here and I got to see friends and family again.”

It was a group effort, though. Baker posted 15 points, Wenzel chipped in 10, Daley had eight points and seven boards and Duffy played her reserves in the final four minutes.

It’s been an impressive week for the Hokies, who bounced back from defeats to Miami and Louisville with three consecutive victories, all by 20-plus points. They’ve found a groove and are above .500 in league play for the first time this year at 4-3.

“We were pretty low after that Miami and that Louisville game,” Duffy said, “so I’m just proud of the way they’re responding to the challenges. I feel like we’re understanding our identity and what it needs to look like. It’s not going to be perfect all the time, but I think their coachability is really good right now, and even though it’s like now the bye week, we’ve got to keep that momentum going.”

Suffren said Tech has discovered its heart and what it takes to be great, particularly at this level of basketball. Freelon described it as a different atmosphere around the program, both from the players and the coaches, and it’s translated to better cohesiveness and more success on the floor.

“It’s felt very good,” Freelon said. “There’s a different atmosphere with us. There’s a different kind of push and a want to win even more, just because we were disappointing ourselves, too. Those were games we really felt like we could’ve won or at least had a closer game with, and so I feel like right now we’re just pushing to be the best we can each day.”

The Hokies’ challenge now is keeping things rolling despite having a week off before hosting Clemson on Thursday, Jan. 22. While their assistant coaches spend the weekend on the road recruiting, the players will have an extra day off before getting back into their routine.

“Just be in that gym,” Suffren said. “Just because this is a ‘break,’ it’s really not a break. Every day I’m going to be in the gym with the team, we’re going to be getting shots in, conditioning. Just keeping our motor on, no matter if we have a break or not, so we can come back for Clemson and give them the same performance that we did today.”

Box Score: Virginia Tech 79, SMU 42