BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech women’s basketball team opened postseason play in the WBIT for the first time in program history, hosting North Carolina A&T at Cassell Coliseum.
It wasn’t an ideal start for the Hokies, who missed their first eight shots and quickly fell behind 9-0. The Aggies took advantage early, led by Jordyn Dorsey and Chaniya Clark, who finished with 19 points.
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But after a timeout from head coach Megan Duffy, Virginia Tech found its rhythm, closing the first half on a dominant 38-9 run.
“It wasn’t a question of not being ready to play,” Duffy said. “We just didn’t quite finish the plays off, and then they got a couple easy baskets and a couple offensive rebounds. But after that, I thought everything we had talked about started clicking a little bit better.”
Carys Baker’s layup gave the Hokies their first lead at 14-13, and Mackenzie Nelson added to the momentum, hitting her first four shots, including a 3-pointer to put Tech up 17-13. Lani White had a breakout performance, scoring 18 points to help seal the win.
“I think we just picked up the intensity,” Nelson said. “We were getting good shots, but at the end of the day, we had to get some stops. They were taking hard shots, but we weren’t affecting anything. Coach Duffy mentioned that it starts from our defense, and when we went on those runs, it wasn’t necessarily always our offense—it was getting stops on defense and then pushing in transition.”
In total, eight Hokies scored in the 61-45 victory.
Virginia Tech will remain at home for the second round, hosting Texas Tech on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Cassell Coliseum.