Going into their ACC matchup against North Carolina at Cassell Coliseum on Thursday night, the opportunity was there for the Virginia Tech women's basketball team to all but cement their spot in the NCAA Tournament next month. A win over the Tar Heels would have been a third Quad 1 win this season for a Hokies team that has already collected 20 wins after sweeping a West Coast trip last weekend.
Things were looking good for Virginia Tech as they played very good defense and held a lead for a majority of the game, but late in the second half and in overtime, a cold spell proved to be too much to overcome in what ended up being a 66-63 overtime loss.
Virginia Tech coach Megan Duffy says the frustrating truth after UNC loss
Virginia Tech held North Carolina to seven second-quarter points and 21 first-half points, their lowest of the season. The Hokies lost Carleigh Wenzel in the first quarter to foul trouble, and she missed the second quarter. Unfortunately for Duffy and her team, they were not able to take advantage of UNC's struggles in the second quarter and were able to build a bigger lead at halftime when they were up 28-21.
North Carolina came alive in the second half offensively and rallied to force overtime, before holding the Hokies scoreless over the final 2:48 of the extra session after Tech took their final lead at 63-62. After the game, Duffy was correct in her assessment of her team's missed opportunity against the Tar Heels.
“I really believe we had our opportunities,'' said Duffy. "Just didn’t have enough execution down the stretch.”
Duffy is 100% correct. Virginia Tech had an opportunity to close out UNC and lock down a third Quad 1 victory in 2025-26. Instead, they are still holding their breath with work to do to be safely in the 68-team NCAA Tournament field next month with two regular-season games remaining against Georgia Tech at home, and at Virginia before the ACC Tournament in a couple of weeks.