Virginia Tech Turns It On In Second Half, Takes Down Stanford 79-67

The Hokies triumphed over the Cardinal by 12, claiming their ninth ACC win of the season.

Virginia Tech Athletics

Two quarters in, it appeared as if Virginia Tech women's basketball's Thursday tilt with Stanford — a team similar to the Hokies in both resume and offensive identity — would shape up to be a low-scoring, drawn-out contest.

Big road W 😤 pic.twitter.com/1ebwGGDaV3

— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) February 13, 2026

The third quarter rendered that statement a moot point. The Hokies (19-7, 9-5 ACC) went a remarkable 12-of-17 (70.6%) from the field, pulling away with a 28-18 third-frame effort to win in California, 79-67.

“I liked everything about it,” Virginia Tech head coach Megan Duffy said to the team's play-by-play broadcaster, Evan Hughes, on the Virginia Tech Sports Network. “I just loved our grit, our toughness. We had a different feel to ourselves. .... I thought we wore them out a little bit with just our fundamentals, but overall, huge road win for us.”

The Hokies had left the first half, trailing by two — and they were down by five until forward Carys Baker knocked down a three-pointer with 52 seconds left in the frame.

While the game did not appear bleak at intermission, it did appear concerning. In the first half, Virginia Tech was outrebounded 27-18, including a 9-5 margin in favor of Stanford (16-10, 5-8 ACC) on the offensive glass.

But then everything flipped on its head in the final 20 minutes. Baker poured in a joint-career-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting Thursday. 15 of her points came in the second half; that 20-minute stretch favored the Hokies heavily by a 47-33 margin. Baker also knocked down four of her seven looks from deep, part of a stellar 8-for-15 team-wide clip from three-point land.

"I think Carys started with her defense and her mindset,” Duffy said. “I thought she was rebounding the ball well. She took it to heart to guard [Lara] Somfai, just anything she could do. Then, the offense came to her with the flow of what everybody else was doing, and she stepped up big for us.”

In the third quarter, the margin did not extend beyond a possession until the 5:41 mark. Hokies guard Carleigh Wenzel rose up for a three-pointer, giving Virginia Tech a five-point lead. After Stanford forward Courtney Ogden countered with a layup, Hokies forward Kilah Freelon notched a jumper at the 5:01 mark. From that point on, the margin did not fall below five.

From the 6:26 mark of the third quarter, where Virginia Tech led by two, to the 3:30 mark, the Hokies went on a 10-2 run to hoist the game out of reach for Stanford. Paced by 10 points from Baker in the third quarter, Virginia Tech entered the final quarter with a 60-52 lead.

After that 70.6% clip, Virginia Tech settled into a more pedestrian 41.2% clip in the final 10 minutes. Still, the Hokies held Stanford to a 1-for-7 clip (14.3%) from behind the three-point line.

Beyond Baker, four other Hokies scored in double figures: forward Kilah Freelon (15), guards Carleigh Wenzel and Mackenzie Nelson (13) and guard Mel Daley (10).

Freelon's stellar stat line came on 7-for-12 shooting, alongside five rebounds, four assists and a pair of blocks. Though Wenzel missed her first seven shots, she still ended the day with 13 points, doing so on a 4-for-18 clip with four rebounds and five assists.

Nelson was active in distribution against the Cardinal, logging seven assists. Alongside her 13 points (5-for-8 from field), she also was a force on the boards grabbing six rebounds.

Then, there was Daley, who injected a charge into the Hokies off the bench. In 28 minutes, Daley went 5-for-11 as a reserve, logging 10 points and four rebounds.

Virginia Tech clawed back the rebounding deficit to a four-board gap. At halftime, the Hokies had trailed by nine (27-18) on the glass; however, Virginia Tech finished with 26 defensive boards, only one behind the Cardinal. However, the Hokies adjusted to Stanford's physicality in the second half, outscoring the Cardinal 47-33 over the final 20 minutes of ball.

Though Stanford entered the contest having lost five of its last six, the win still represents a significant step for Virginia Tech towards its making the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal ranked No. 42 in the NET rankings entering the contest, two spots above the Hokies (No. 44), who have now won eight of their last 10.

The Hokies will have a two-day respite in California before traveling north in the Golden State to play Cal. The Golden Bears [stats]. Virginia Tech will contest Cal on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. ET, with the contest set to be streamed on ACC Network Extra. The Golden Bears rank No. 51 in the NET rankings at the time of writing.