DULUTH, Ga. — The Hokies fell behind in the second quarter and couldn’t climb out of that hole in Friday’s 85-68 loss to No. 16 North Carolina in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
“A little bit disappointed with our overall performance today,” Virginia Tech head coach Megan Duffy said, “but a lot of positive comments in the locker room. Even though we’re disappointed about our season and how we're going to move forward in the NCAA Tournament, just really proud of our team.”
Tech (23-9) led 16-11 after the first quarter but was outscored 29-11 by the Tar Heels (25-6) in the second. Despite matching punches in the second half, the deficit was too much for the Hokies to overcome. It was shades of their Feb. 8 defeat against NC State, where they couldn’t rally after being outscored 25-8 in the second quarter.
Carolina found its offensive rhythm much earlier than Tech. It got just about anything it wanted in the second quarter, shooting 9-for-16 (56.3%), cashing in three 3-pointers and making eight of its 10 free throws. It was 6-for-8 on 2-point looks, too.
That was a stark difference from the Hokies, who were 3-for-15 in the period and went the final 5:48 of the first half without a field goal. They started 0-for-10 from behind the arc, too — trouble against a UNC team that was 5-for-12 from long range over the same span.
“We got the shots we wanted, they just didn’t fall,” Tech guard Carleigh Wenzel said. “We tried to stay together in the timeouts, tried to stick with it, tried to keep getting downhill, take your shots and take them confidently, and it just wasn’t falling as much as we wanted it to.”
It snowballed with foul trouble. Tech was ahead by two when point guard Mackenzie Nelson picked up her second personal with 7:55 in the second quarter. Just over 90 seconds later, with the Tar Heels up three, forward Kilah Freelon was whistled for her second.
That took two of the Hokies’ most important players off the floor, which provided even more hurdles given their struggles to score, and things went downhill from there. UNC turned a 23-20 lead into a 40-27 cushion at the break as Tech struggled to handle anything thrown its way. Carys Baker and Kayl Petersen also got their second fouls while Nelson was called for her third.
In the first meeting 15 days ago, which Carolina won 66-63 in overtime in Cassell Coliseum, the Hokies weathered the storm and received 21 bench points, which helped them lead for 30 minutes and go punch-for-punch with the Tar Heels.
It was different this time. Their bench finished with 18 points — six apiece from Mel Daley and Aniya Trent, with four from Samyha Suffren and two from Petersen — but the production didn’t come in the right moments, which left them constantly playing catch-up.
“The first time we played them, our bench was tremendous with pushing our lead,” Duffy said, “and it just wasn’t quite the case because of how much foul trouble we had. I thought we were a step slow with just some of our decision-making on the defensive end. Then I thought we just started rushing and pressing a little bit on our offense and taking some quick shots.
“Really offensively in that second half, it got a little bit better, I thought. When we were under control and really picking our battles with getting out in transition and executing, it looked pretty good. But again, the defensive stops weren’t there for us through the majority of the game.”
Shooting 34.8 percent over 40 minutes and only having one double-figure scorer didn’t help things.
Tech was propelled by Wenzel, who scored 26 points and knocked down a career-high 14 free throws on 15 attempts. She was just 6-for-17 from the field, though, and 0-for-6 from the outside.
Lanie Grant spearheaded Carolina’s attack in a similar way with 21 points (8-for-12 FG, 4-for-7 3FG), but she had help. Nyla Harris posted a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double while Elina Aarnisalo added 18 points, six assists and five rebounds. Wenzel didn’t have that kind of support on what was an off-night for the Hokies.
She was their lone double-figure scorer, and while she shot 35.3 percent, the rest of the team was at 34.7 percent (17-for-49).
“Their guards are really speedy, so you have to play underneath them as quickly as you can,” said North Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart, who added her squad “prioritized” Tech’s guards around Wenzel. “We were able to use our depth and get underneath them better, which was good. We have bigs that can move, which helps. But they’re hard to guard.”
Poor 3-point shooting was a factor. Tech was 2-for-18 from the outside against the Tar Heels, with the makes coming from Leila Wells and Nelson. That made it difficult to mount a comeback, especially given UNC’s 7-for-17 clip from long range.
Its two best 3-point shooters, Grant and Aarnisalo, were a combined 6-for-10. Wenzel and Baker, Tech’s two best, were 0-for-10.
“I know me specifically, they felt good outside of that one on the left wing in the first half,” Wenzel said. “I think we were just tentative. I don’t think that they were really pushing up as much on the 3-point line. I felt like they were there. Again, it just wasn’t falling. I know I can’t speak for everybody, but I know me specifically, they felt good, but they just weren’t going in.”
Even when the Hokies generated more offense in the second half, it mostly came from the foul line, where they were 11-for-15 and finished the game 20-for-25 (80%).
Overall, they improved to 43.8 percent (14-for-32) after a 26.5 percent first half (9-for-34), and the ability to get to the stripe helped generate some runs.
However, even when they built up some momentum, Carolina punched back. When they generated an 8-0 run in the third quarter, with six straight points from Wenzel, to pull within nine with 3:34 left, UNC answered with a three-point play from Grant.
“We had it at 13, we had it at 10, we had it at nine and started playing some good basketball,” Duffy said. “Then gosh, they got an and-one, they hit a timely three, they went downhill. I felt like we were making a couple adjustments and couldn’t quite get the stop. I thought our team was extremely engaged with trying to get that 13 down to single digits and make a last push.”
The Tar Heels finished the game with a 51.6 percent clip (32-for-62) and racked up 48 points in the paint.
“It was totally on us,” Nelson said. “They ran the same sets [as last meeting] and we weren’t able to handle it. It was a lot of communication errors that we can fix, and then a lot of it was just getting out-toughed. They got a couple offensive boards, and then simple backscreens, flare screens that we just didn’t communicate over and they got easy looks, and any good team is going to knock those down.”
Virginia Tech still has the NCAA Tournament to look forward to, though. After being the first team out of the field last year, it’s played with a chip on its shoulder this season to get back to the Big Dance — something Duffy and the players mentioned back in October.
It’s done exactly that and then some, racking up a 12-6 conference record and finishing tied for fifth with Notre Dame. Plus, it notched three Quadrant 1 wins on the road at Syracuse, Stanford and Virginia.
Unlike a year ago, when it dropped six of its final 10 games heading into Selection Sunday, it’s won six of its last 10 this time around, including five of its last seven. It also wasn’t too long ago that it strung together a seven-game winning streak and beat the likes of Syracuse, Clemson and Virginia — three NCAA Tournament teams.
“This team deserves to be in the NCAA Tournament,” Duffy said. “For us to finish tied for fifth with Notre Dame and be in position to do some damage in the tournament, we’re super excited. … We’re going to be excited to take a couple days off now and then reload and rejuvenate. Our mindset has been get better and not go on a pitch about the NCAA Tournament, stay humble, stay in that gym, and we’ll be ready wherever we’re sent.”
Not bad for a team picked 10th in the conference in the preseason. It’s proved many wrong (and itself right), and instead of wondering if it’ll be dancing, the question this time around is where and whom it’ll play.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity for us,” Nelson said. “I think that nobody saw us in the position we’re in right now, playing with that chip on our shoulder, being able to prove people wrong. I think that we’re not the greatest team on paper, but we play with toughness, heart, competitiveness, and I think that’s why we have been successful so far this season.”
Box Score: No. 16 North Carolina 85, Virginia Tech 68