NC State women's basketball overwhelm's Virginia Tech

The Wolfpack jumped out to an early lead and rolled to a win over Virginia Tech on Sunday night.

NC State v Syracuse
NC State v Syracuse | Bryan Bennett/GettyImages

Thursday night, the North Carolina State women's basketball team had to use a second-half rally to avoid a major upset at the hands of Syracuse in New York. If there was one thing you could bet on before their game with Virginia Tech on Sunday night, it was that they were going to come out flying and that was the case, snapping Tech's two-game winning streak.

Head coach Wes Moore had his 20th-ranked Wolfpack come out aggressive on the offensive end and forced the Hokies into tough shots on the defensive end and it all added up to their eighth ACC win in nine games and improved them 16-4 overall. Virginia Tech falls to 14-6 overall and 5-4 in the conference. Here are some quick takeaways from a statement NC State victory.

Quick takeaways from NC State win over Virginia Tech

  • Last season, NC State made the Final Four and with the talent they return, it would not be stunning to see them back there in April.
  • Things were so rough for the Hokies in the first quarter, who struggled to get stops in their man-to-man defense, Megan Duffy had to switch to a zone in the final minute.
  • The Wolfpack led 29-12 after the first quarter and yes, they shot the ball well, but they also took advantage of five Virginia Tech turnovers for some easy run-out baskets. In fact, 18 of their 29 points were in the paint. Not good.
  • Virginia Tech had multiple chances to get the deficit down to 10 points or single digits in the second quarter but was not able to. NC State was able to rebound and take a 15-point lead into the half.
  • If there is one thing to take from the game, it's that Duffy needs to add some depth and some bigs to next season's roster. She will do that and look for her to have a much deeper roster in 2025-26.
  • NC State's guards were just too quick and athletic for the Hokies to defend. They also made some nice passes in the lane.

Virginia Tech got 18 points from Carleigh Wenzel and 15 from Carys Baker. Aziaha James led the Wolfpack with 25 points, Saniya Rivers had 17 and Madison Hayes and Zoe Brooks each had 12. Things get much tougher for Virginia Tech as they return to Cassell Coliseum on Thursday night to host No. 3 Notre Dame.

Schedule

Schedule