Women's Basketball Reigns Victorious In Wednesday Thumping Of Presbyterian

The Hokies claimed a 56-point victory in a contest where it led 46-14 at the half.

Virginia Tech Athletics

BLACKSBURG, Va. — 367 days ago, Virginia Tech guard Samyha Suffren suited up for the Hokies' contest against Duke. Though she didn't know it at the time, that contest was her last of the 2024-25 campaign, one ultimately cut short by a torn labrum and a tightened capsule.

Got it done ☑️ pic.twitter.com/aVc3rL4fDU

— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) December 11, 2025

A year later, Suffren is back and perhaps, better than ever. The now-sophomore guard poured in a season-high 17 points to lead the Hokies (8-3, 0-1 ACC) to their third victory in their last six games in a 92-36 thumping of Presbyterian Wednesday evening in Cassell Coliseum.

"I just had the attack mentality, just being ready coming off the bench and just being there for our team," Suffren said.

Fresh off a loss to Duke to open its ACC slate, Virginia Tech appeared demoralized in the immediacy its 16-point loss to the Blue Devils. Three days later, it bounced back., handing Presbyterian its sixth straight loss in the teams' first meeting since 2016.

"I really liked our focus tonight," said Virginia Tech head coach Megan Duffy following the victory. "I thought we were ready to play. Liked our bounce back from the Duke loss. It was great to see everybody get in the scoring column and put some great minutes on the board for us. Overall, just a great team effort."

The win did arrive against the softest opponent on Virginia Tech’s schedule so far. Presbyterian entered the night at No. 363 in the NCAA’s NET rankings — last on the metric and one spot below Niagara, which the Hokies handled 83-46 on Nov. 20. It was the kind of matchup where Tech was expected to control the game; the result reflected exactly that.

However, that doesn’t take away from Virginia Tech’s effort. The Hokies were sharp throughout Wednesday’s blowout, especially in the passing lanes, collecting 24 steals and turning those turnovers into 41 points — more than Presbyterian scored on the night.

Virginia Tech was dominant in almost every aspect of the game. Points in the paint? A commanding 62-18 margin. Second-chance points? 23 to Presbyterian's two. Points off turnovers? 41, compared to the Blue Hose's two. Assists? 17-3. Bench points was the same deal, a 48-25 statistic heavily leaning in Tech's favor. Perhaps the only statistic that didn't lean Tech's way was its shooting, both from deep and from the charity stripe.

Though the Hokies entered the contest ranked No. 33 in the nation in free throw percentage (77.2%), sitting third in the ACC, they struggled from the line Wednesday, hitting only half of their 26 stripe shots. The same toils held true from deep; Tech hit just three of its 12 shots from deep. However, the Hokies also outshot Presbyterian, 73-49, simply negating any shooting woes by gobbling up more opportunities.

"We thought we had the size advantage and really wanted to capitalize on that, trying to get extra possessions," Duffy said. "I thought overall, [it] was pretty good."

The Hokies vaulted out of the gate, going on a 8-0 run to open the contest. Though they cooled off later through the first quarter, sporting a 7-for-21 total after 10 minutes, they froze Presbyterian, holding the Blue Hose to a 3-for-13 mark and leading by a 22-8 margin after one.

The second quarter tilted even further in Tech’s favor, a 24-6 stretch that broke the game open and resulted in a 46-14 mark at the half. The third quarter widened the gap again, with the Hokies rolling to a 29-8 margin by way of a 12-for-15 (80%) frame. With just over two and a half minutes left, Tech opened its lead to 61. The end result gave the Hokies a 56-point victory, their first win by 50 or more since New Year's Eve in 2023, a 91-41 victory vs. Pitt.

A day after tallying 15 points on a substandard 4-for-17 shooting night, guard Carleigh Wenzel remained rather inefficient, putting up a 2-for-11, seven-point outing against the Blue Hose. However, several other players stepped up to shoulder the load. Five players notched career-highs in points — chief among them was guard Leila Wells, who made her first career collegiate start Wednesday. Wells notched 13 points, five assists and five steals, setting new career-highs in points, field goals, three-point field goals, assists and steals.

"I thought Leila was great," Wells said. "Her stat line, 13 points, five assists, five steals, zero turnovers, was awesome. And I think the greatest thing about Leila is [that] she just continues to buy into the selfless attitude of like whatever my team needs, she wants to defend. She'll play whatever position on the floor we need her to. It was only a matter of time before she started hitting some of her threes. I thought her floor game was good, her defense was good. Completely poised out there. She was connected with me when we were calling some plays. Just overall great performance by Leila."

Virginia Tech will next take on East Tennesse State on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 4 p.m. ET, with viewing on ACC Network Extra. The game will be the second in a doubleheader with the men's basketball team, which plays Maryland Eastern Shore at noon.