Virginia Tech Women's Basketball Improves to 5-0, Cruising Past Niagara

Five Hokies had double-digit points tonight.

Mar 9, 2024; Greensboro, NC, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Sonia Citron (11) blocks the attempted shot of Virginia Tech Hokies guard Carleigh Wenzel (1) in the first half at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: David Yeazell-Imagn Images | David Yeazell-Imagn Images

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech kept its perfect start intact Thursday night, cruising past Niagara, 83-46. The Hokies improved to 5-0 behind another balanced scoring effort and a defense that limited Niagara’s offensive pressure.

Make that 🖐️-0 pic.twitter.com/6H4wDqwqAt

— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) November 21, 2025

Virginia Tech (5-0) never trailed in the contest against Niagara (0-4). Guard Mackenzie Nelson got the scoring started with a midrange shot, and the Hokies tallied a stellar defensive possession that ends in a turnover. From there, Virginia Tech shot 9-for-18 from the field in the first frame and were comfortably up 23-10 after 10 minutes of game time.

The second quarter was the most decisive stretch of the game. The Hokies sported an impressive 12-for-16 mark from the field and drained all three of their three-point attempts. By halftime, Virginia Tech was up, 51-20. Forward Carys Baker made 4-of-5 from the field and cashed both of her three point attempts in the first half to lead all scorers.

“I feel like it was just great shot selection and just being able to find each other,” said forward Kilah Freelon after the game. “There weren't really any rushed shots. It wasn’t just random shots. They were a lot of confident and well executed shots.”

The Purple Eagles opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run, thanks to several well-designed plays, a turnover by Carleigh Wenzel, and missed layups by the Hokies. This run caused Duffy to use a timeout early in the second half.

“I wasn’t real thrilled in the beginning of the third quarter,” said Duffy. "I thought we were a little bit sloppy…I just thought to we’d just reiterate what we were trying to accomplish in the third quarter. Get a little bit more focused on the pressure they were bringing us, and be a little more fundamentally sound.”

That message clearly resonated with the team; the Hokies subsequently went on a 10-0 run following the timeout.

“[The message] was to basically lock in was the gist of it,” said reserve guard Mel Daley. “I think third quarters for us, we seem to start a little slow. I think we need to do better of coming out of the half and kind of starting with that first quarter right from the punch.”

The lopsided score allowed for nonstarters to play most of the second half. One player that got a lot of valuable minutes was freshman forward Amani Jenkins. She finished the night 2-for-3 from the field, notched five rebounds and blocked three shots in 16 minutes of play.

“I thought Amani Jenkins was a great bright spot for us,” Duffy said. “Freshman year can be so hard. And I think everybody has high hopes of what they want their freshman year to look like. But sometimes you got to go through the fire with just how hard practices are.”

Freelon spoke very highly of Jenkins’ performance tonight, remarking that the freshman has been listening on a constant basis.

“She is constantly listening, asking questions and just making sure she’s doing the right things before she goes out there," Freelon said.

Given that most of the starters were out by the third quarter, offensive production slowed down a tad for the Hokies. However, that constant defensive pressure they forced on the Purple Eagles persisted, regardless of who was out there. Even with the slowed offensive showing, the Hokies still outscored Niagara 32-18 in the final two quarters.

Towards the end of the game, guard Samyha Suffren transformed into the engine sparking the Hokies’ offense. In just a three possession span, she had a fastbreak layup, followed by an assist to freshman Aniya Trent, followed by another fastbreak layup.

Niagara shot just 35.2% from the field, turned the ball over 23 times and was forced into multiple shot clock violations due to the Hokies' defense.

“I thought we were aggressive,” said Daley. “I like that we were in the passing lanes. I think we came into a mindset of ‘this is our home court, and we’re gonna defend it.”

Next, Virginia Tech will have its first road game next Sunday, Nov. 23 at 2:00 p.m. ET, as it takes on the James Madison Dukes in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Coverage for the game will be on ESPN+.