Virginia Tech Women's Basketball Falls Short Against Duke In ACC Opener

Josh Poslusny breaks down Virginia Tech's 70-54 loss against Duke.

Carleigh Wenzel looking to make a play against Duke. | Virginia Tech Athletic

Virginia Tech suffered its first ACC loss of the season on Sunday, falling to Duke 70–54 in its conference opener. The game remained competitive early before Duke pulled away in the second quarter.

FINAL | Tech 54, Duke 70

— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) December 7, 2025

"I thought Duke played a tremendous game on the defensive end," head coach Megan Duffy said after the loss. "It's kind of an ugly first half. But just overall, disappointed with a little bit of our execution and how we came out today."

Virginia Tech remained within reach throughout the first half. However, a decisive Blue Devils run in the second quarter created the separation that ultimately determined the game. The Hokies were unable to generate the sustained offense necessary to close the gap.

Offensive limitations proved to be the central issue for Virginia Tech. Carleigh Wenzel was the only Hokie to score more than six points, finishing with 14 on 4-of-17 shooting while adding two assists and three turnovers.

Beyond Wenzel, four other players attempted at least seven shots, but they combined for just 21 points on 6-of-33 shooting, including 2-of-9 from three-point range. Among that group, Carys Baker provided the most balance, contributing six points, five rebounds and four blocks.

Aside from Wenzel, four players took at least seven shot attempts and those four players combined for just 21 points on 6-for-33 from the field and 2-for-9 from beyond the arch. Carys Baker had the best game of the bunch, scoring six points with five rebounds and four blocks.

"I think me and Carys specifically, we're kind of used to how they play," Wenzel said. "We've played them a couple times now. So, you kind of know what to expect coming in. I think it's just getting everybody on the same page, getting everybody ready to go going into the game. Just letting them know what to expect, things like that. But nothing new. We know they're a really good defensive team and play with physicality."

Despite its offensive struggles, Virginia Tech did create opportunities through defensive pressure. The Hokies forced 24 turnovers and converted them into 22 points, compared with Duke’s 13 points off turnovers. However, just half of Duke’s turnovers were live-ball, limiting Virginia Tech’s ability to generate efficient transition chances.

"I thought we could have capitalized a little bit better on their turnovers," Duffy said. "We were a little bit tentative in transition and bobbled the ball a few times. I thought it was a little bit uncharacteristic of us once we got out in transition, some of our decision-making and confidence to go up with it."

Conversely, the Hokies committed 17 turnovers of their own, 10 of which were live-ball and directly aided Duke’s transition scoring and free-throw opportunities. Duke finished the night with 29 free-throw attempts.

Rebounding ultimately proved to be the decisive factor. Duke controlled the glass with a 50–34 advantage, including a 16–11 edge in offensive rebounds. The Blue Devils recorded 17 second-chance points, outpacing Virginia Tech’s 12. Rebounding has been a recurring issue for the Hokies, who have been outrebounded by an average of more than 13 boards per game across their three losses.

"Like Coach Duffy said, they're lengthy, they're long," Baker said after the game. "I think there was a lot of opportunities where we didn't use the physicality that we've been working on during practice to our advantage. I think just in post play, majority of that was on us, just not pushing them back. There were just a lot of things that we gave up that could have cut the lead down a lot. So that was probably on us a lot and the post players."

Despite the defeat, the performance should not qualify as a damaging loss. Duke entered the matchup battle-tested after a stretch of games against AP Top-10 opponents and delivered a physical, disciplined effort.

Virginia Tech now turns its attention to a Wednesday matchup against Presbyterian, a 6 p.m. tip.