Carys Baker dropped 24 points as the Hokies handled Stanford for a Quadrant 1 win. (Virginia Tech athletics)
Virginia Tech notched a Quadrant 1 win with a 79-67 victory at Stanford late Thursday night.
“I liked everything about it,” Hokies head coach Megan Duffy said on the Virginia Tech Sports Network after the win. “I just loved our grit, our toughness. We had a different feel to ourselves. We worked extremely hard the last two days of just turning the page from a really tough game against NC State, and I’m just so proud of the way Mackie [Nelson] and Carleigh [Wenzel] set the tone. … Stanford is big and physical. I thought we wore them out a little bit with just our fundamentals, but overall, huge road win for us.”
The Hokies (19-7, 9-5 ACC) bounced back from two straight losses by traveling to the West Coast and taking it to the Cardinal (16-10, 5-8), especially in the second half.
Stanford was ahead 34-32 at the break, but the Hokies burst out of the locker room and made 12 of their 17 shots in the third quarter (70.6%), which led to a 28-18 margin in the period. They put the Cardinal on its heels, forcing a timeout from Kate Paye at the 6:20 mark of the quarter, before pushing the lead to double digits and running away with it.
“We were kind of teasing with the time change that it was like Midnight Madness,” Duffy said of the halftime message. “Stay awake, can you stay hungry? But I thought we still had some better basketball to play. Just the fight that they came out with, the ball was moving, sharing. We didn’t let it get sticky. A lot of people stepped up.”
Tech outscored Stanford 47-33 over the final 20 minutes and was 19-for-34 (55.9%) during that stretch. Conversely, the Cardinal was 12-for-31 (38.7%).
That came after an even first half where both squads were 37 percent from the field — the Hokies at 14-for-37 with Stanford shooting 13-for-35. An improved effort on the glass helped as they outrebounded the Cardinal 20-15 in the second half (and only lost that battle 42-38).
Carys Baker also got going. The game’s leading scorer with 24 points, which tied a career-high, she posted just nine points in the first half but went off for 15 in the second. She converted three of her four 3-point looks and sparked Tech, which was 6-for-9 from deep after intermission. Baker finished 10-for-15 overall and 4-for-7 from long range to accompany seven rebounds.
“I think Carys started with her defense and her mindset,” Duffy said. “I thought she was rebounding the ball well. She really took it to heart to guard [Lara] Somfai, just anything she could do, and then the offense came to her with the flow of what everybody else was doing, and she stepped up big for us.”
The Hokies’ tempo and energy also took Stanford out of rhythm, and it was contagious throughout the lineup Duffy frequented with Mackenzie Nelson, Carleigh Wenzel, Mel Daley, Baker and Kilah Freelon. All five scored in double figures, and four of them played at least 32 minutes. A substitute, Daley was on the floor for 28 minutes.
Freelon was an efficient 7-for-12 inside and had 15 points, five boards, four assists and two blocks. Wenzel did not commit a turnover while adding 13 points, five assists and four rebounds, and after missing her first seven shots, she hit four in a row between the second and third quarters.
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Tech struggled with taking care of the ball in its previous two games, but it had just eight giveaways to 20 assists (on 33 made buckets) in Maples Pavilion. That started with Nelson, who racked up 13 points (5-for-8) to go with seven assists, six rebounds and just one miscue. And like Wenzel, Daley did not turn it over while chipping in 10 points and four boards.
“Both of those games were a little bit uncharacteristic of the way we handled the ball,” Duffy said, “and so we actually did ball-handling drills the last couple days. It’s amazing. But again, that was led by Mackie with great poise out there. I mean, seven assists, one turnover. Carleigh, with the pressure she was feeling with the bodies. Again, five assists, zero turnovers, and that became contagious.”
Chloe Clardy, who dropped 30 on Tech last season in Blacksburg, knocked down four triples for Stanford and was 7-for-16 en route to 20 points. Lara Somfai also contributed 15 points (on 6-for-13 shooting) and 15 rebounds, while Courtney Ogden posted 15 points (6-for-16).
“I thought we made it challenging for [Somfai] to get to her spots,” Duffy said. “I thought the fronting, the physicality. We’re undersized, we’re scrappy, but the way we fundamentally got to the right spots to prevent some of her easy stuff. She’s going to get a couple shots because she’s so talented, but I thought we made it very difficult for her.”
However, two of the Cardinal’s other key options — Alexandra Eschmeyer and Hailee Swain — were a combined 4-for-17. It’s been without leading scorer Nunu Agara and starter Talana Lepolo for the last five games, too, and has now lost six of its last seven contests.
Still, the Hokies handled business away from home. Thursday’s performance was up there with their 20-point road waxing of Syracuse as their most impressive win to date. Interestingly enough, that was the last time they had five double-figure scorers. Along the same lines, those were their two most efficient offensive games of the season, according to Bart Torvik.
Tech finished shooting 46.5 percent (33-for-71) while Stanford made a 37.9 percent clip (25-for-66). The Hokies were much more efficient from behind the arc — 8-for-15 (53.3%) to the Cardinal’s 7-for-24 (29.2%). The home team also finished with just six assists to 13 turnovers.
Virginia Tech will stay out in the Bay Area through Sunday, when it travels to Berkeley to face Cal (16-10, 7-6). That’s a 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT) tip on ACC Network Extra. The Golden Bears beat Virginia 64-58 on Thursday and held the Cavaliers to 2-for-13 shooting from the outside.
Box Score: Virginia Tech 79, Stanford 67