Three Big Takeaways from Virginia Tech's 85-68 Loss against No. 16 North Carolina

Virginia Tech women's basketball fell to No. 16 North Carolina 85-68 and was subsequently eliminated in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. Here are three takeaways from the contest:

Final from Gas South Arena. pic.twitter.com/E8F7qD7bDF
— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) March 7, 2026

No.1: The Hokies played three good quarters of basketball.

Virginia Tech was neck and neck with the Tar Heels in the first, third and fourth quarters of this quarterfinal matchup. However, it got blown out of the water by North Carolina in the second 29-11, amounting to a deficit that the Hokies couldn't come back from.

In the anomalistic second quarter, the Hokies shot a drab 3-for-15 from the field and went 0-for-3 from beyond the arc. The other five points arrived from the charity stripe; Virginia Tech guard Carleigh Wenzel went 3-for-4 in the second quarter. On the Tar Heels' side, guard Elina Aarnisalo had a perfect second quarter, going 3-for-3 from the field with two three-pointers and making two free throws to total up to 10 points, only one less than the Hokies scored in the entire quarter.

North Carolina logged more points in the paint than the Hokies did overall in the second quarter with a 12-11 split. Overall, the Tar Heels shot 9-for-16 from the field, with a 37.5% clip from three as well. They supplemented that scoring with eight free throws on 10 attempts.

No.2: Carleigh Wenzel needed a complementary scorer on the offensive side of the ball.

Wenzel was the lone standout for Virginia Tech on the offensive side of the ball, scoring 26 points with three assists as well. She produced that 26-point performance despite going 6-for-17 from the field. How?

The answer is free throws. Many free throws. Wenzel nearly broke a 28-year-old record in this Friday night matchup with 14 made free throws on 15 attempts for a near-perfect night. The record holder is Amy Wetzel, who achieved 16 makes against Wisconsin in 1998. The Hokies shot an overall 34.8% from the field; however, an 80% free throw percentage highlighted one of the few bright spots in this contest.

Guard Mackenzie Nelson produced nine points, six assists and three rebounds for a very solid overall performance.

Forward Carys Baker struggled for the second straight game, only producing three points on one-for-eight shooting. The junior forward was held scoreless for the entirety of the first half and scored her only field goal in the fourth quarter, with a split pair of free throws in the third being her only other points.

No.3: Three-point shooting needs to bounce back going forward.

At first glance of the box score of this contest, the first statistic that will pop out at you like a sore thumb is the three-point shooting splits. The Tar Heels had a great night from three, with seven makes on 17 attempts for a 41.2% night.

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech turned out one of their worst performance all season from beyond the arc, with two makes on 18 shots, a dismal 11.1% clip. The Hokies out-attempted the Tar Heels by one but made six fewer shots from three than the Tar Heels. The Hokies hit their first three-pointer in the third quarter after being 0-for-10 in the first half.

ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme currently predicts the Hokies to make the NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed; if there's one area of focus going into the tournament that needs improvement, it's three-point shooting. In this contest, it was a glaring weakness; the Tar Heels outclassed and outmatched the Hokies in three-point shooting.

A 17-point loss wraps up the ACC postseason for the Hokies with the NCAA Tournament being projected to be the next task for Coach Duffy and her squad. While this loss will sting for the Hokies, there is potentially more basketball up the road. Virginia Tech will find out on Sunday, March 15 if they will be dancing in March and where they will be headed.