Everything From Virginia Tech's Carleigh Wenzel and Megan Duffy After UVA Win

Virginia Tech women's basketball head coach Megan Duffy and guard Carleigh Wenzel spoke to the media after the Hokies' 83-82 victory over Virginia. Here's the entirety of what Duffy and Wenzel had to say:

Opening statement from Duffy:

MD: "I'm incredibly proud of our effort coming in a hostile environment and the Commonwealth Clash. The way our team showed grit through 40 minutes, we obviously got off to a tremendous start, and UVA made some adjustments. We just kind of hung in there enough to keep it close. And then just the fact that Carleigh Wenzel, just the play she made on the defensive end, the big free throws, Just very proud of the grit and fight today."

On finishing off the season with 12 ACC wins:

CW: "We've been working all year on that, understanding that obviously we weren't ranked that high coming in, but not letting that affect us. Just coming in, working our butts off every day. On bye weeks, just not taking the week off, but understanding that it's a reset to prepare. And I think that's what we did this week. And just going to end on a high note, we wanted to end the season. Obviously, we know that's a tough team to end off, especially a rivalry game, but going into the [ACC] Tournament with momentum is what we wanted, for sure."

On both teams countering one another and Tech's response at the end:

CW: "Just being able to play through mistakes, adversity, physicality, things like that. I think they got hot in the second half; they went zone. So, just trying to figure that out, I guess we did all right; we won the game. So, I'll take it. Just trying to play through things, play through mistakes, play through their physicality and understand to adjust and stay disciplined."

Q: Megan, what did you like about how you guys guarded their final shot?

MD: "Thank you for not asking me [about] the whole game. Our second half, our defense had some breakdowns. Whether it was [Kymora Johnson or Paris Clark getting] hot, going downhill. And then, Mo was Mo at times, where as soon as you made a mistake, she made a huge play. That's why I feel like UVA is such a talented and good team. They can hurt you inside. They can go to the outside. Like Carleigh mentioned, we made some mistakes, but we never had our heads down. We got tougher in those last little few minutes, enough that we were in position to execute. I think that was the biggest thing. When they took the lead, it could have gone the other direction, and we hung tight, got a couple defensive stops, couple hustle plays. I thought we executed really well down the stretch, at least getting a good shot off. Carleigh had the opportunity to take the take the three, or get down downhill. She had great clock awareness once they figured out the clock. And then I had no doubt that she was going to make those two free throws."

On Wenzel's career-high 29 points and how proud that makes Duffy as a mentor:

MD: "I told her, I think seven times now, I'm very proud of her the way she handled herself all week. For reasons, she knew we had to find a balance of rest in this bye week. It's kind of strange, the last week, when you want to keep playing, and all of a sudden, you don't have a game on Thursday. So, just for her and some of our high-minute players, to get a little bit of rest on their bodies but still get better was the biggest key. I wouldn't say we practiced perfectly this week, but I think that the mission and the goals were the same of, we need to rebound the basketball. We needed to own the paint in some form. That might not be winning the paint battle, but that's staying competitive with it and then letting our top guys make huge plays down the stretch. So, I'm very proud of the way Carleigh made big shots for us, made her free throws, but her poise was the best part about her day today. She went and switched off on Mo, to just maybe give her a little more resistance. It was challenging, but I thought her mindset was contagious to everybody else, and just very proud of the way she gutted it out for us today, along with many others."

On the balance of five players in double figures:

MD: "I think it's huge. I think every coach in America talks about it. You got your go-to players for sure. We've been led by Carys [Baker] and Carleigh, maybe from the scoring side of things. But really, it's been the group around them that continues to get better and build their confidence. And we talked a lot throughout the game when it was getting ugly at times, everybody has a chance to make a positive play. That could be a big rebound, that could be a loose ball, that could be communicating on defense. And so instead of getting a little frustrated, it was just like, 'Stay the course.' I thought Mel Daley made some huge plays for us offensively, and then some scrappy boards she got. Made a couple really good decisions late. And then you throw in Carys, has been solid for us all year. We played through some foul trouble. It's a really difficult game to call. I know Coach [Amaka Agugua-Hamilton] probably wasn't happy, I wasn't happy at times with the physicality and what to call. But I think we talked all week [about] how to handle our emotions and composure. That may have been the difference in the game."

On Mackenzie Nelson's double-double (10 points, 11 assists) and her effectiveness against Virginia's zone:

MD: "I tell you what, Mackie was not feeling good all week. Just her mental toughness today, with just staying poised, with having a little bit of just a nasty cold. She made big plays for us, whether it was that three she got downhill once. Kept her composure in the huddles along with Carleigh, and she found people and all different people, which was great. She did her job really well. I'm proud of her, too, because it was not an easy week for her with how she felt."

On Wenzel's mindset prior to and duringthe game-winning free throws:

CW: "Yeah, if I had to look, take it. But obviously, I just saw two defenders flying out. So I'm gonna be a playmaker, whether that was [to] take the shot or see Carys on the other side of the floor. Luckily, I got to the free-throw line. And I know I've been working with Coach [Sharnee Zoll] a bunch just after practices and things like that. My routine, what I'm saying to myself at the line, things like that. I think it just came into play today."

On getting the sweep over UVA this year:

CW: "It's amazing. It feels great. I'm definitely glad. Rivalry games are always fun, whether it's at Cassell [Coliseum] or here. The crowd's always great. You're always going to get their best, whether we're up 15. They're always going to fight back on find a way. And that's what rivalry games are about."

On Virginia's improved third-quarter execution:

MD: "We came out guns a blazing in that first quarter. Getting downhill, making our threes. Our pace was really good, and we've watched them since, obviously, we played them last. They've done a little bit more of their 1-2-2 zone, which we worked all week on. I'm not sure we executed exactly the way we wanted to, but I think we stayed poised even when we lost the lead or they made their comeback. I just think the demeanor of like, hey, some of those shots are going to fall. I felt like the whole game, whether it was them talking in their huddle or it was me coming in, they were very positive of like, hey, we have, you know, a corner. We have 1-on-1 on the block, we have our shooters open. It was sticky little zone, but I thought we just sustained it enough. Like I said, it wasn't pretty, but we sustained it enough, you know, to obviously come out with the W."

On what the confidence can bring headed into the ACC Tournament:

MD: "I think this week, on our bye, we talked about gaining an advantage, keeping them emotionally locked in. We feel like the body of work we've done to be an NCAA tournament team is there. So, as much as the preparation and the mindset to get better this week was there, we also said you got to have fun in this, just even how the ACC standings are all log jammed. And I think this game, we could have gone from fifth to ninth. We spun it as it's going to be a great opportunity. It's going to be opportunity. It's going to be fun. UVA is going to come in and want to kick your butt because you beat them the first time. And how will you respond and keep your confidence? There was, like we mentioned, up and down moments, but we just kept staying steady in the fight. People rose to a different level. We made some adjustments that I thought these women executed perfectly, and I'm just very proud of them. Hopefully, this gives us a great amount of confidence going into the tournament in Atlanta. We'll figure out and watch some games here on the way home on the bus ride. But I want them to enjoy this. They worked extremely hard this past week. I can't say enough about our staff, the way they've been keeping the standard high with me and not having a lot of sleep, just trying to do every little thing we can to help these women stay confident and poised. It's a great group to be around, and I'm thrilled that we're going to now have an opportunity to go win a championship."

Q: Carleigh, I'm sure it feels like crazy that this is the end of the regular season, but to be sitting here 12-6 in the ACC, all you guys have accomplished so far, what have you been most proud of about just how you guys have kind of stuck together through the highs and lows this season?

CW: "Yeah, absolutely, just staying together, everybody being able to do, a we over me mentality. Nobody was in there worried about getting their own, nobody was worried about how games affected themselves. It was more of, 'How can we get a team win? What can I do to make the team better?' And I know Mel has stepped up tremendously in these last couple games, just being able to, at the end of the game, grabbing the rebounds. Kilah [Freelon], just being able to be gritty when things get ugly, I think they've done a tremendous job, and just everybody being able to pour into each other, not really worried about ourselves. And so, that's what we've done all year, and it's nice to be at the top of the ACC.'