Women's Basketball Conquers Third-Quarter Chaos In Win Over Coastal Carolina

In a first-time matchup, Virginia Tech defeated Coastal Carolina, 82-59, Saturday afternoon in Cassell Coliseum. With the win, the Hokies have reached their first 4-0 start since the 2022-23 season. The stretch is also the first four-game winning streak for head coach Megan Duffy since Nov. 13-29, 2024.

TOTAL TEAM EFFORT 😤 pic.twitter.com/FDOD8qbZ0U
— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) November 15, 2025

"Felt like we played two basketball games," Duffy said. "What a frantic pace. We were very concerned about this game today just because of the way Coastal Carolina plays. Very well coached. They got some talent.

"They can bomb threes and they can get downhill. So, I was very proud of the resilience of our team. Obviously, we started off had a great first quarter. But all we kept talking about in timeouts was it's the game of runs, they're going to make their run. We had to kind of stick to the game plan and had some up and down moments. Obviously, the third quarter wasn't exactly what we had intended."

Virginia Tech (4-0) languished through a difficult third frame after entering the second half up 53-29. Just two of the Hokies' 18 shots found the back of the net, while none of Tech's nine three-point attempts were on target. At one point, Virginia Tech found itself on a streak of 12 straight missed field goals and 11 straight missed triples.

As a result of the Hokies' four-point tally in the third frame, Coastal Carolina (2-3) went on a 13-0 run essentially by proxy of Tech's woes. The Hokies' four-point third-quarter didn't carry over into the final quarter, however.

Though the Chanticleers briefly sliced Tech's lead down to an 11-point advantage, the Hokies produced a stellar last 10 minutes of ball, knocking down nine of their 15 shots (60%) and scoring 25 points in the final frame to put the game firmly out of reach.

"We were just trying to stay steady, pump each other up, and like we said, we're going to eventually make our run. Where they were pressuring at times. So, I'll look at the film and really see was it X's and O's? Was it lineups? Was it something Coastal Carolina was doing? [It'll help] to see how we can kind of fix and prevent that third quarter."

The Hokies ran with a shorter bench Thursday; after entering double-digits in previous outings, just eight Tech players saw the court. All eight played over 10 minutes, with guard Carleigh Wenzel and forward Carys Baker the only two to log 20-plus minutes.

Wenzel logged a season-high 23 points Saturday; her output marked the first time this seasson that a Hokie has gone for 20-plus on the scoreboard. Wenzel's efforts also came with a double-double, as the redshirt junior accumulated 10 assists, thriving off Coastal's press-heavy defense.

However, when asked about Wenzel's level of growth, Duffy spotlighted Wenzel's defensive work on Chanticleers junior forward Tessa Grady. The 6-foot-2 forward had previously dropped 20-plus points on a pair of occasions and entered the contest averaging 15.5 points per game.

However, Wenzel restricted Grady to six points and forced the experienced transfer into five turnovers.

"I think Carleigh's poise is the greatest thing about her right now," Duffy said. "... We put her on [Grady] most of the game, held her to only six points. And that was Carleigh being focused and locked in. She wants to be a two-way player. We're pushing her on some different matchups to to do that. And so, I'm most proud of when a game like today happens. Yes, she scored and she facilitated, but then you can say, 'Man, I think her defense might have been the best part of what she did today.' That's a huge testament to Carleigh's focus and her work. She had a quick little film session yesterday individually from the previous game. Thought she improved tremendously."

Duffy extrapolated that relentlessness on the court to the entire team, which forced 27 Chanticleer turnovers and converted those miscues into 31 points.

"I love that about our team," Duffy said. "It's the relentless growth that we're coming in hungry to get better as the scouts change a little bit and opponents change, somebody like Carleigh, who's a huge leader on in our program to show like 'I'm the defensive stopper today.'"

In addition to Wenzel's 10-assist evening, guard Mackenzie Nelson again distributed the ball effectively, dishing out the ball four times. Entering the contest, Nelson sat fifth in the nation in assists per game, and first in the ACC.

Forward Kilah Freelon was again a force on the boards, gobbling up eight rebounds, her third game with eight or more boards. In all three contests that the Texas Tech transfer has played, Freelon has dropped at least 12 points and at least eight rebounds. Saturday's outing marked the first time Freelon did not reach double-digit rebounds; through three contests, her average sits at 12.3/game.

Virginia Tech will next play Niagara on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. ET. Viewing for the contest will be available on ACC Network Extra.

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