Women's Basketball Coasts By Boston College, 78-56

The Hokies possessed a 16-4 lead before the first quarter was complete.

Virginia Tech Athletics

BLACKSBURG, Va. — There are times in basketball where the question of which team is stronger is answered very quickly. For Virginia Tech women's basketball Sunday afternoon, that rang true less than a quarter in. The Hokies acclimated quickly to the shorthanded Eagles and jumped out to a 16-4 lead by the 2:32 mark of the frame, coasting to a 78-56 victory in Cassell Coliseum and equalizing their league record at an even .500.

"[We were] just being a little bit more tougher on both ends of the court, and letting our defense kind of rally our offense," said Virginia Tech guard Carleigh Wenzel.

The victory also marked Virginia Tech women's basketball's 500th victory inside Cassell Coliseum.

Sunday funday! 😎 pic.twitter.com/VwnBK1hvzh

— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) January 11, 2026

Boston College (4-15, 0-6 ACC) entered today's contest nursing a ten-game losing streak, having not won since Nov. 25. In contrast, Virginia Tech (13-5, 3-3 ACC) had gone 7-4 in that same stretch, with their losses coming to BYU, Duke, Miami (overtime) and No. 13 Louisville. Though the Hokies led by three at the first media timeout, they erupted over the final 4:28 of the opening frame, going on a 15-4 run to take a 22-9 advantage after one. After two frames, the lead was padded further, sitting at 19 with the Hokies leading 41-22 at half. In addition, Virginia Tech held a 21-7 advantage on the boards, grabbing a 37-19 advantage at game's end.

"I think it starts with our communication," said forward Carys Baker. "I think that's huge. Obviously, like in the second half, we're away from the coaches. We talk about that a lot during practice. The five on the court need to talk...

"If we can get into our huddle and talk about that and adjust it quickly, I think that's huge for us. And then obviously, we talked about rebounding a lot, that's a major emphasis for us. And so these past two games, we've definitely emphasized it, and we've gotten a lot of better, gotten a lot better with it."

Of Boston's College's four wins this season, the highest-ranked on NCAA basketball's NET rankings was Merrimack, which sat at No. 238 this morning. Meanwhile, the Eagles' worst-rated loss was Northeastern, which sat at an even 300th in the NET rankings. Virginia Tech, sitting at No. 51 in the nation, was a sizeable cut above and proved it with a first-quarter thumping that never evaporated, anchored by a 6-for-9 mark from the field and supplemented by an 8-for-9 clip at the free throw line.

The Hokies' charge was spearheaded by junior forward Carys Baker. The forward logged her third straight contest in double-figures and her sixth in the last seven games, with a 17-point, four-rebound outing against the Eagles. Baker has knocked down five or more field goals in all but one of her last seven games; the last occasion was against Miami on Jan. 1, where the third-year forward logged eight points on 3-of-12 shooting. Since that outing, Baker has logged a field goal percentage over 45% in each of her last three games.

Baker's 17 points marked the 13th time that she scored in double-figures; 14 of those points came in the second half. Baker wasn't alone in her efforts; two other Hokies scored in double-figures: guard Mel Daley (10 points, six rebounds) and guard Carleigh Wenzel (10 points, four assists). Forward Kilah Freelon (nine points, nine rebounds) and guard Samyha Suffren (nine points, four rebounds) also anchored the Hokies' charge to their third ACC victory of the season.

Virginia Tech thrived, especially down low; the Hokies outscored the Eagles 40-16 in the paint and possessed a noticeable size advantage. Just one of Virginia Tech's players is under 5-foot-9: guard Mackenzie Nelson (5-foot-8). In contrast, two of Boston College's starting guards come in at 5-foot-6 or shorter: Athena Tomlinson (5-foot-5) and Erin Houpt (5-foot-6).

"I think it starts with Kilah," Baker said. "She's a huge leader for us. And I think that high,-low game that we were talking about a lot during this week of practice, I think that was definitely emphasized for us. Having [Freelon] in that paint and just having her voice... has been huge for us. We knew coming in that there was going to be some advantages for us in the paint.

"And I think in these past couple of games, we've done a really good job of just getting paint touches. just getting into the paint. Even our guards, like Samyha, Carleigh, Mack, just getting into the paint and kicking out or just getting a layup for themselves."

Freelon was injured in the third quarter, injuring her ankle after a chaotic posssession near the basket concluded with her needing assistance to walk to the locker room. Duffy stated that Freelon rolled her ankle and that she could have put Freelon back into the game; however, Virginia Tech had "the lead pretty handily [and] it wasn't worth it", in Duffy's own words.

In addition, forward Kayl Petersen is day-to-day after sustaining a kick to the face vs. Syracuse. The forward will "hopefully be back soon", according to Duffy. The focus is on making sure that Petersen's face is structurally good.

"Kayl took a hell of a hit at Syracuse and got popped in the face, as you can see with her bruising," Duffy said. "We just got to make sure everything structurally is good... I haven't seen a hit like that in a long time."

While Virginia Tech made just five of its 18 (27.8%) looks from the perimeter, its strengths were evident enough in other areas that Duffy and the players were satisfied with postgame.

"We think about [the three-point shooting] obviously, but I don't think we can go into a game, go into during the game, of the flow of the game, and just get frustrated with that," Baker said. "Talking for myself, I can't get frustrated with not hitting shots in the perimeter."

Boston College was a generally new-look team from the squad that faced — and defeated — Virginia Tech last year, 92-89, in Conte Forum. This year, the Eagles welcomed in 11 newcomers, with six of them being transfers. One of the team's two returners, sophomore guard Lily Carmody, stood as the team' leading scorer, entering the contest against the Hokies with a 12.1 points/game mark.

The Hokies silenced Carmody, holding her to two shots from the field for a total of five points and forcing the guard into four turnovers. Boston College's second-highest scorer, graduate guard Teionni McDaniel was absent from the game, while the Eagles' tertiary scorer, freshman Jocelyne Grier, was limited to 2-for-13 by the Hokies.

Virginia Tech's next contest comes in a two-day, two-game affair in Dallas, Texas. Both the men's and women's teams will square off against SMU, with the women's slate being scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Coverage for the contest will be on ACC Network Extra as the Hokies look to move their in-conference record past .500 for the first time this season.

In the meantime, Duffy remarked that rest and recovery are paramount for her unit as their game at SMU isn't for another four days.

"They've given a lot of effort in this last week and I love them for that," Duffy said. "... They've been coached hard... It's rest, recovery... Hopefully the Syracuse mindset we had will give us some confidence going into Carleigh's home state, in Texas."