Three Big Takeaways from Virginia Tech's 62-54 Win over Georgia Tech

The Hokies were down as much as 14 at one point in this contest.

Leila Wells celebrating with the bench in the background and Mackenzie Nelson in the foreground. | Virginia Tech Athletics

On Thursday, Virginia Tech women's basketball moved past Georgia Tech, 62-54 in the Hokies' first game in the ACC Tournament. Here are the three biggest takeaways from their first victory in the ACC Tournament:

Same time tomorrow night?! 🦃 pic.twitter.com/wa924B2fTG

— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) March 6, 2026

No. 1: The first-quarter issues cannot resurface vs. UNC.

At one point in this contest, the Hokies were 1-for-16 from the field in a game that the Yellow Jackets looked like they would run away with. Georgia Tech led as much as 14 on the back of a 13-0 run the Hokies couldn't stop due to lackluster shooting.

Only Hokies guards Leila Wells and Carleigh Wenzel had made baskets from the field in the first quarter. Forward Carys Baker struggled immensely in the first half shooting 0-for-6 from the field.

With the Tar Heels coming up, the Hokies cannot afford to have the same start against North Carolina that they did against Georgia Tech, or the result will most likely be the same as the one on Feb. 19.

"Just really thrilled about our response after a really difficult start," said Virginia Tech head coach Megan Duffy after their win. "Give Georgia Tech credit. They came out punching. I thought we maybe were a little bit nervous trying to get our feet under us for the beginning of the tournament. But after that I thought we settled in, and defensively we were a lot better."

No. 2: Try to replicate the second-quarter performance.

The Hokies looked like a completely different team in the second quarter, ratlting off a 15-point run. Virginia Tech scored efficiently and defended near-perfectly, holding the Yellow Jackets to just six points in the second quarter.

The point scoring for Virginia Tech came from everyone with Baker rebounding from a poor first quarter to score seven points on 3-for-5 shooting to lead the team in the second quarter. The Hokies were able to obtain the eight-point lead going into the half because the defense and offense were working in harmony.

The biggest indicator of that was the points off turnovers in the second quarter. Virginia Tech logged 12 points off turnovers in the quarter while forcing the Yellow Jackets into turning the ball over six times in this quarter. The Hokies led in every statistical category except offensive rebounds, which the two teams were tied in at three a piece, with a 6-to-0 turnover ratio being the most eye-catching statistic.

"I mean, at some point in the first quarter and multiple, whether it was the media time-out or a time-out, we just almost had to reset ourselves," Duffy said. "Everything we worked on didn't really go according to plan. We said let's start with following the game plan, let's start with turning up our defense. We were just a step slow on everything, very similar to when we played them at home not too long ago."

No. 3: Mackenzie Nelson could be the X-Factor going forward.

Nelson turned out one of her better performances all year against Georgia Tech, scoring 14 points, claiming nine board, and had six assists in an all-around, all-star-esque performance. Nelson was one-point shy of tying team-leader Carleigh Wenzel in points but led the team in rebounds and assists in this contest.

If Nelson can churn out a similar performance against the Tar Heels on Friday, then the Hokies could be in a great position to knock off the team that beat them in overtime only a few weeks ago.

Nelson was efficient, shooting 60% from the field, careful with the ball with not turning it over once to the Yellow Jackets. Overall, she was the MVP of this contest for the Hokies. She was one of four players on the team to play 30-plus minutes in the contest, with the entire starting five excluding Leila Wells eclipsing that mark.

"I think I'm in this role that's do whatever is needed, whether that's come out and score or whether that's come out and throw a couple dimes, get some charges, play some defense," Nelson said. "Like Carys, Carleigh [Wenzel], our main scorers, maybe weren't hitting in the beginning of the game. But we saw Leila [Wells] step up, we saw Samyha [Suffren] come in, you saw me hit a couple shots. And I think that's our team right there. Anyone on this team can go out and score 10, 15 points."

Virginia Tech has a short turnaround with the aforementioned North Carolina Tar Heels coming up tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET (TV: ACCN). The Hokies look to knock out the team that was responsible for one of two overtime losses at Cassell Coliseum, the other one being an already knocked out Miami team. Should they win, they will face off with the winner of Louisville/Syracuse.