Three Takeaways From Virginia Tech Women's Basketball's 75-54 Win Over Florida State

Virginia Tech evened up its conference record at 1-1 and moved to 10-3 on the season with a dominant road 79-54 win over Florida State. This win is arguably the team’s most complete game of the season when factoring in competition. There is a lot to take away from this game. Let's get into it.

ACC DUB ✅ pic.twitter.com/VCYbGHXfHO
— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) December 19, 2025

No. 1: This team is elite on defense

It has slowly become more and more evident just how good this team is on defense, and I think this one is the statement that many felt it might need to hold to hold that theory up. Virginia Tech's defense has allowed 70 just once this season, and that was in its ACC opener, a loss to Duke, when it allowed exactly 70. Even then, Virginia Tech held Duke to under its average.

Virginia Tech forced 15 turnovers and blocked four shots in this game, allowing for 18 points off turnovers and 17 fast-break points. Florida State shot just 26.7% from three and 28.6% from the field. They never scored more than 16 points in a quarter against the Hokies

No. 2: Mackie Nelson is the X factor

While it would be unfair to say that this team runs on Mackie Nelon's performance, it isn't entirely untrue. The team has found many ways to win when Mackie Nelson doesn't have a big game, but it seems just that much easier when she does.

Mackie Nelson put together a career night with 18 points and 12 assists against the Seminoles. In games where Nelson has totaled 18+ total stats (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks), the team is 7-2, with an average margin of victory of nearly 18 points.

The team doesn't live and die on Mackie Nelson's play, but when she's on, it opens more pathways to victory for this Virginia Tech team.

No. 3: Carys Baker is on a hot-streak

Carys Baker has really come into her own as of late. Since the loss to BYU at Paradise Island, Baker has come out firing, scoring 20+ points in four of the six games. Over this six game stretch, Baker has averaged 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.7 steals and blocks.

All of a sudden, Baker seems like the team's most productive player. Sitting at 6-2, Virginia Tech needed somebody to step up and lead the team, and Carys Baker has done just that, propelling the team to go on a 5-1 run with three wins over power conference competition.