Three Takeaways From Virginia Tech WBB's Season-Ending Loss to Oregon

Virginia Tech women's basketball's 2025-26 campaign concluded with a 70-60 loss to ninth-seeded Oregon in the Round of 64 in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Here are three takeaways from the season-ending defeat.

FINAL | Tech 60, Oregon 70 pic.twitter.com/I6mq23MCsD
— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) March 20, 2026

No. 1: The Hokies' substandard first quarter was one they couldn't recover from.

Virginia Tech held a 9-7 lead over Oregon at the 5:48 mark of the first quarter. But from there, the Ducks (23-12, 8-10 Big Ten) rolled to the end of the frame, outscoring the Hokies (23-10, 12-6 ACC) 15-2 over the next five minutes and 48 seconds of ball.

Though Virginia Tech limited the damage in the second frame, tallying 18 points to Oregon's 13, the third quarter was where the Hokies came undone.

23 seconds into the frame, forward Carys Baker made a put-back layup to cut the Ducks' lead to 35-31. Those were the last points that Virginia Tech scored until the 2:58 mark of the quarter.

In that span, Oregon rolled up 18 straight points, elevating its lead to as high as 22. The Hokies missed 11 straight shots and couldn't stop the Ducks from penetrating the paint; Oregon went 6-for-10 (60%) inside the arc and nullified Tech in a 5-for-22 (22.7%) third quarter.

Though Virginia Tech clawed back ground in the fourth quarter, the Hokies already entered the final frame down 15 with their season essentially dusted.

Oregon was pinpoint inside, converting on 22 of its 43 (51.2%) looks inside. Though the Hokies dwarfed the Ducks in fastbreak points with a 13-2 gap, Oregon countered that — and then some — with a 34-16 advantage in the paint.

The Ducks made six more shots despite attempting 10 less. Though Virginia Tech went 9-for-24 (37.5%) from three-point range, it was 4-for-16 (25%) prior to the fourth quarter. Ducks guard Katie Fiso led the charge with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting, plus four assists. Forward Ehis Etute added 11 points nad as many rebounds.

No. 2: In spite of the defeat, Carys Baker was luminous in the final quarter.

Though Baker's statistics come with the caveat that Virginia Tech was down 15 entering quarter No. 4, it was still an impressive showing, nonetheless. Baker was 2-for-9 entering the final frame, but she did not miss in the fourth. The junior forward was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, with all but one of her makes coming from beyond the arc.

Baker accounted for all but three of the Hokies' 20 fourth-quarter points. Guard Carleigh Wenzel, who was restrained to 2-of-11 shooting by the Ducks, accounted for the other three points, which all came via free throws.

No. 3: Even despite the defeat, Virginia Tech outperformed preseason expectations.

Entering the campaign, the Hokies were slated to finish 10th on the ACC preseason media poll. Virginia Tech beat that poll by four slots, claiming 12 ACC wins (three more than 2024-25, Duffy's first year as the Hokies' head coach) and 23 overall wins.

Despite the nature of the loss, Virginia Tech performed admirably in defeat, rallying back in the second frame to make the contest a close affair heading into intermission.

However, the Hokies' woes both to close out the first frame and open the third were their undoing, leading to Duffy's fourth exit from the NCAA Tournament in the Round of 64.

Virginia Tech's 2026-27 season will begin in early November, offering the team about seven-and-a-quarter months to prepare for the upcoming season, which will see at least two departures from the team: forward Kilah Freelon and guard Mel Daley, both of which have exhausted their eligibility following the season.