Women's Basketball Claims Quad 1 Win at Syracuse, 77-57

The Hokies stifled Syracuse, jumping out to a 35-23 lead at the half.

Jan 4, 2026; Louisville, Ky.; Louisville guard Skylar Jones (23) shoots against Virginia Tech forward Carys Baker (10). | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech women's basketball took a step towards leveling its record to .500 in league play vs. Syracuse Thursday afternoon, claiming its second ACC win of the 2025-26 campaign with a 77-57 triumph at JMA Wireless Dome.

"I'm just very, very, very proud of our toughness, our competitiveness, our heart to play," said Virginia Tech head coach Megan Duffy after the game on the Virginia Tech Sports Network to the Hokies' women's basketball play-by-play commentator Evan Hughes. "Yes, there's a game plan in all this, but the way we came out after two really difficult days of practice to get them locked back in just phenomenal effort all the way around."

Got it done! ✔️ pic.twitter.com/1naiFu8hZb

— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) January 9, 2026

The victory granted the Hokies (12-5, 2-3 ACC) their first Quad 1 victory of the 2025-26 season as they stifled the Orange (13-3, 3-2 ACC), holding Syracuse to a 35% (21-for-60) clip from the field and a 25% (3-for-12) mark from beyond the arc. Following Tech's road contest against Louisville, where it shot 0-for-16 from deep and failed to record a single three-pointer in a game for the first time since Dec. 21, 2015, vs. Radford, it was pinpoint Thursday, going 6-for-9 from three-point land against the Orange.

The victory also kept Virginia Tech from dropping its third straight game, which would have been a first under head coach Megan Duffy. But even after a collapse that led to an eventual 75-67 overtime loss vs. Miami on New Year's Day, followed by a 25-point blowout defeat to Louisville, the Hokies remained steadfast and rediscovered their groove Wednesday against the Orange.

There was one player, in particular, that rediscovered that groove: guard Carleigh Wenzel. Wenzel, who came off a 1-for-10 mark against Louisville where she tallied five points, was initially spotty, knocking down one of her first five shots against Syracuse. But once she settled into her groove, she was lights out, knocking down six of her next nine looks, ending the night with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. Her assist and turnover totals marked her highest since Dec. 21 vs. Radford, while her 18 points were her most since the Hokies' game against BYU on Nov. 27 in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

"Carleigh was great," Duffy said. "And I just think her poise, and, talking about [how], yes, she's a scorer, but she's got to be a playmaker for us. She's getting in the work and trying to watch the film. And it's a funny game. Sometimes it can really tear you apart. It can test you. And I'm proud of the way she's continuing to keep her poise and confidence."

Wenzel was flanked by four other Hokies that scored in double-digits: guard Samyha Suffren (16 points), guard Mackenzie Nelson (13 points, five assists, three steals), forward Carys Baker (13 points, six rebounds, three assists) and forward Kilah Freelon (12 points, six rebounds, two blocks, two steals).

Perhaps the Hokies' best stat was how it fared on the glass; according to Virginia Tech Sports Network's Evan Hughes, Syracuse entered the contest grabbing the second-most offensive rebounds per game in the country. Even still, Virginia Tech held steadfast, only being slightly behind the Orange on offensive boards (15-13) and matching Syracuse with 39 total rebounds.

The Hokies were also active in the passing lanes, notching nine steals, with at least two in each quarter. Virginia Tech committed 14 turnovers Thursday, with eight in the final quarter when the game was out of reach; it was a solid display in ball control from the Hokies, who reacted well to a consistently shifting Syracuse defensive front.

The Orange shifted between woman-to-woman coverage and zone defense on a multitude of possession, occasionally blending the two together and disguising their coverage to where it was difficult for Virginia Tech to recognize whether it was man, zone or a mixture. Duffy spotlighted the team's defensive coverage, remarking that the decision-making held steady for the majority of the night.

"Our point guard play was guard play was really good with recognizing [it]," Duffy said. "It's tricky, because sometimes it looks like man, zone, kind of morphs into both. And so, we were able to [diagnose it] for the most part. A few at the end and all that. But I thought overall, our decision making and being solid and sharing the ball was really good."

Virginia Tech committed just two turnovers in the opening 14 minutes while forcing Syracuse into six, as well as holding the Orange scoreless for the first 6:20 of the second half.

The Hokies started solid on the offensive end, as well. Tech started 4-for-6 from the field and assumed a 22-15 lead into the second quarter off the back of a seven-point run midway through the opening frame.

In the second quarter, the Hokies' scoring dropped to 13; however, Tech limited Syracuse to just eight points in the frame. The Orange scored six straight points to close out the half, but the Hokies outscored Syracuse 12-2 at the start of the third quarter to take an unassailable 49-29 lead. That strength carried through into the final frame, where the Orange were held to a 1-for-10 mark to open the last quarter.

With 1:44 remaining, Mackenzie Nelson's sister, Camdyn, a freshman for the Orange, checked into the contest, with the two sisters guarding one another with the game out of reach. Duffy remarked postgame to Hughes that she was considering taking Nelson out of the game, but decided not to, not wanting to "kill the moment."

As things stand, Virginia Tech's victory currently is a Quad 1 win; the Hokies need Syracuse to remain in the top-45 for the contest to continue registering as a Quad 1 Tech win. The Hokies themselves ranked No. 53 in the NET rankings entering the contest and are likely to jump into the top-50 by virtue of tonight's triumph. Exiting the contest, Duffy spotlighted the team's intensity and the desire to stay connected and execute.

"We have it in us, and it's just a matter of figuring out, day after day, and the grind of January, or whatever you want to call it, to stay connected," Duffy said. "I'm proud of their our players, our leadership group, for getting on board with what we wanted as a coaching staff, and I thought there was so much more execution today on both sides of the ball. It's a really good Syracuse team that's going to win a lot of games, and we had to come out and really work one possession at a time with an intensity about us. And I'm very, very happy with it."

Virginia Tech's next contest comes back at home as the Hokies host Boston College on Sunday, Jan. 11 at 12 p.m. ET. The contest will be available for viewing on the ACC Network as Virginia Tech looks to improve its record to 13-5 and more importantly, level its ACC record at an even .500.