Carleigh Wenzel and Virginia Tech continued their winning streak on Sunday vs. Virginia. (Jon Fleming)

On the day the program celebrated 50 years of Virginia Tech women’s basketball, the Hokies beat Virginia 76-64 for their seventh straight win.

“This was a special weekend for us, celebrating the 50th anniversary of women’s basketball here at VT,” Tech head coach Megan Duffy said. “… I’m just extremely proud and grateful for the grit and effort they showed tonight. Hard-nosed, physical game, I thought they were just relentless with staying in the moment, fighting for each other, fixing things as we went. Just overall, loved the grit of this team today.”

The Hokies (18-5, 8-3 ACC) were the better team from start to finish on Sunday afternoon. They disrupted the Cavaliers (15-7, 7-4) defensively, limiting them to 34.4 percent from the field (22-for-64).

UVa entered the day as the nation’s blocks leader and was averaging 7.8 per game. Tech finished with one more, six to the Cavaliers’ five, led by true freshman center Aniya Trent’s three swats.

Virginia had also been stellar on the glass and led the ACC with an average rebounding margin of 12.5. The Hokies kept it close on the boards, a battle the Cavaliers won 41-40. It was a team effort, and five Tech players corralled at least four rebounds.

Moreover, UVa star Kymora Johnson had to work for her 19 points, which she reached on 16 shots (6-for-16). She’s guided an efficient Cavaliers offense this season, one that averaged a league-best 19.4 assists per game before Sunday.

Yet, inside Cassell Coliseum, Virginia had just five assists on 22 buckets while turning it over 13 times. Virginia Tech had four steals, two of which came from sophomore forward Kayl Petersen.

“We were concerned about a lot of things going into the game,” Duffy said. “I think we just tried to say, ‘You’ve got to pick a couple things you can be great at. You can’t stop everything.’ They have a great inside presence. Obviously, with Mo, she’s phenomenal [with] the way she can take over a game at times, so I thought we did a good enough job protecting the interior. They’re very good at getting paint points in a couple different ways. That was the grit I’m talking about where we sustained some of those punches and some of those downhill attacks.

“Then you also have to be on high alert with Johnson and the way she can get hot, and that was a collective guard group, chasing her off screens, and that was the grit of even when Kayl and Aniya came in, they had some big moments for us when Carys [Baker] and Kilah [Freelon] were sitting on the bench with four fouls. Just a blocked shot here, chase down a rebound. Those little things add up, either on your side or against you, and fortunately for us, down the stretch, especially in the fourth quarter, they were in our favor.”

Kilah Freelon and the Hokies went toe-to-toe with the Cavaliers on the glass. (Jon Fleming)

The Hokies were more efficient offensively, too. They made 38.3 percent of their looks (23-for-60) and had four double-figure scorers, paced by Carleigh Wenzel’s 23 points. They attacked downhill and drew 28 whistles, which got the Cavaliers in foul trouble — and led to a ton of free-throw attempts.

The main benefactors were Wenzel and Mackenzie Nelson. Wenzel drew 13 fouls, which led to 20 foul shots — one shy of UVa’s entire team (16-for-21) and broke both the program record and Cassell Coliseum record for most attempts in a game. She made 12 of those. Nelson got eight of those foul calls and was 8-for-12 from the stripe.

“I love that I was able to keep my poise and take the hits,” Wenzel said, “but I am not happy with my percentage. But that’s all mental. Just something that you can’t really lean on and focus on too much. I’ll make them next game, I’ll make them in practice on Tuesday. So, I’m grateful, but I wish it went a little bit different.”

Nelson (3-for-7) and Wenzel (5-for-18) paced the Tech offense as they each knocked down a 3-pointer and dished out five assists. Wenzel added six rebounds, too.

Samyha Suffren (12 points, 5-for-12) and Leila Wells (seven points, 3-for-5) were also big for the Hokies early, with 13 of those points coming in the first half. They also shared the task of keeping Johnson in check.

Kilah Freelon and Carys Baker were saddled for foul trouble for long stretches of the game, which kept them on the bench, but Tech received big boosts from Trent and Petersen, especially on the defensive end.

Freelon was good when on the floor, posting six points and seven rebounds, but Baker provided a jolt with her 11 second-half points. After a scoreless first half on 0-for-7 shooting, she was 4-for-4 in the second, which featured three triples — including the dagger off a dish from Nelson with 1:13 remaining.

“I’ve known Carys for a while,” Nelson said. “I can see when she gets in her head, and a couple missed shots today led her to that, and we said at halftime, ‘Shoot the ball, we’re going to get you the ball, knock it down.’ They must’ve messed up on defense because she got a wide-open three, and that’s all it took, and she knocked down a couple after.”

Carys Baker came alive in the second half for the Hokies. (Jon Fleming)

It was a well-rounded effort from Tech, which led for 29:36 and held a two-possession cushion for the entire fourth quarter. The Cavaliers tried to turn the tide, but the Hokies held them off before gradually pulling away.

Virginia Tech has been on a tear since dropping back-to-back games against Miami and Louisville at the beginning of January. Outside of a scare vs. Clemson, where it had to come from behind to win, it’s taken care of business and ripped off a seven-game winning streak.

As of Feb. 1, the Hokies are tied with Syracuse for fourth place in the ACC with an 8-3 record, sitting behind Louisville, Duke and NC State. After their trip to Notre Dame on Thursday — it’ll mark Duffy’s first visit to her alma mater as a head coach — they’ll get a shot at the Wolfpack at home on Sunday.

“I think we play with a chip on our shoulder,” Nelson said. “Seven straight, but it’s just one at a time. You don’t think about the next game, you don’t think about the last game, you just think consistency. You win, lose, get in the gym, get shots up and go to work and focus on the next opponent, and that’s all it really is.”

Box Score: Virginia Tech 76, Virginia 64