Virginia Tech Women's Hoops Collapses Down Stretch, Falls to Miami in Overtime

The Hokies led by as many as 18 before surrendering the lead in an eventual overtime loss.

Virginia Tech Athletics

BLACKSBURG, Va. — At the 3:35 mark of the third quarter Thursday, Virginia Tech women's basketball held an 18-point advantage over Miami. At that point in the contest, things seemed assured to lean the Hokies' way, culminating in both a 12-3 record, as well as a 2-1 ACC mark. On ESPN's win probability marker, Virginia Tech held a 99%-win probability. Then, the next 16:25 of gametime — plus five minutes of extra basketball — wiped that all away. Miami outscored Virginia Tech, 36-16, in the final frame and overtime en route to a 75-67 extra time victory in Cassell Coliseum.

FINAL | Tech 67, Miami 75

— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) January 2, 2026

"Extremely disappointed with our second half," said Virginia Tech head coach Megan Duffy. "Defensively, we weren't very good for how well it went in the first half. We didn't put another 20 minutes together, specifically that fourth quarter. So, again, this one hurts, especially on our home floor, to lose one like this."

Initially, Virginia Tech possessed the upper hand. It did so in the first quarter, taking an 18-12 lead after 10 minutes of game time. It did so again in the second quarter, keying in on Miami in the frame and holding the Hurricanes to 2-of-17 shooting from the field.

But in the third quarter, a switch occurred. Though Virginia Tech held pace with the Hurricanes, being narrowly outscored 20-18 in the frame, the Hokies let go in the fourth quarter. Holding a 51-39 lead entering the fourth quarter, Virginia Tech collapsed down the stretch, particularly on defense. Miami accumulated 46 points in the paint, 10 of them coming down the stretch in the final quarter. In total, the Hokies scored 11 points in the fourth and final frame, their advantage extinguished in a quarter where they were outscored by 12.

From the 8:49 mark of the fourth quarter to the six-minute mark, Miami trimmed Virginia Tech's lead from 15 down to seven. Following a Virginia Tech timeout, Miami again leapt on the offensive, notching three made free throws, an Ahnay Adams layup and a three-pointer from guard Gal Raviv that deadlocked the game at 57. Raviv's lone triple broke a dry shooting spell where the guard missed her previous seven shots from long range. In total, Raviv went 7-for-20 from the field, including a 1-for-8 mark from deep, notching four rebounds, two assists and 14 points.

Raviv was far from the only Hurricane to make their presence known down the stretch. In the final six minutes of regulation, Miami forced Virginia Tech into three seperate timeouts and finally with 1:15 left, Raviv drained a jumper. And that jumper gave the Hurricanes something they hadn't had all day: the lead. In the fourth quarter, Miami made nine of its 15 shots, good for a 60% clip. Including the third quarter, the Hurricanes cashed in on 54.3% of its looks in the second half. That came despite a 2-for-6 mark from deep. Prior to the fourth quarter, Miami hadn't made a three for the first three quarters, missing its first 11 looks.

But in the final frame, as it did through almost every area of the court, Miami improved, knocking down two of its three triples. The Hurricanes kept the ball saf, as well, turning the ball over only twice in the final two quarters and not coughing the ball up at all in overtime. In contrast, the Hokies committed eight turnovers — including six in the decisive final frame, where Virginia Tech was outscored 23-11.

The Hokies made a push back, with forward Kilah Freelon countering with a layup to knot the game at 52. Miami's subsequent attempt was no good, sending the contest to overtime. Including the men's basketball game vs. Virginia last night, Cassell Coliseum has witnessed four overtime periods in the last two days.

In overtime, the extra five minutes provided a clear image of polar opposites. After shooting 40% or higher in regulation, Virginia Tech went cold in extra time, sinking just two of its 10 shots. Meanwhile, Miami hit four of its five looks and took nine free throws, sinking five.

One of Miami's focal points entering the game, and one that it was ultimately successful on, was on limiting forward Carys Baker. The junior forward, who tallied three 20-point outings in December, was limited to eight points on 3-for-12 shooting. She accumulated six rebounds and committed three turnovers. In the final quarter plus overtime, Baker scored one point off a free throw and missed all four shots from the field. Miami head coach Tricia Cullop, who earned her 500th career win with the victory over the Hokies, remarked during post-game media availability that her players likely got tired of hearing Baker's name brought up during game-planning.

"They probably got tired of hearing her name, because all week, I talked about how she almost single-handedly beat us last year," Cullop said. "She hit three after three when we played them last year, She got in foul trouble... then she came back and hit big three after big three. And eventually, they walked out with a victory. So, we talked to the team about what a great player she is, and that we couldn't leave her open. We had to contest her shots. We had to switch at times to get out on her. She still got more looks than I wanted her to have, but I thought our team really was in tune to what we had to do to win."

In her stead, other players performed solidly. Mel Daley hit six of her 13 looks and ended the day with 12 points. Guard Carleigh Wenzel, after a difficult shooting slump in December where she logged 20/23/69 splits, went 6-for-11 for the field and tallied 16 points, along with three assists. Forward Kilah Freelon was also solid, accumulating 13 points, seven rebounds and two assists. But on a night where Virginia Tech needed to provide the finishing blow to stamp out Miami's hopes of victory, they failed to do so, allowing the Hurricanes to creep back into the game and for momentum to decidedly shift.

Yet, the grind goes on. The women's basketball squad still has 15 games remaining in its ACC slate and as Duffy has said before, focus always remains on sticking by the process and trusting in preparation.

"The same way we do every day, we talk about getting back into our process," Duffy said. "The most important things for our players right now is to rest their minds a little bit, get their recovery, fuel up. Coaches will get back to work. There's a lot of basketball to play. I think we've been talking a lot about sticking to our values and not get too high or too low.

"... This is a group that we've been growing to fight back. I look forward to getting back to work and figuring out some of those small details that could have prevented what happened today. And I got all the confidence in the world in that locker room... that we're all going to stay driven to fix some of the things and use it as a learning experience and keep moving forward."

Virginia Tech's next challenge comes on the road; the Hokies take a six-hour drive down to Kentucky to play Louisville on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 4 p.m. ET. The contest will be carried on ACC Network Extra.