Virginia Tech’s women’s basketball team defeated Clemson 78-76 in their regular season finale at Littlejohn Coliseum Sunday afternoon. The win evened Tech’s league record at 9-9 and locked them into the 8/9 game against Georgia Tech and a first round bye in the ACC Tournament.
The game was a reunion of sorts. Clemson's head coach is former Tech assistant Shawn Poppie. Current Hokies assistant Head Coach Itoro Coleman played and coached at Clemson.
Both teams came in needing a win after recent slides. Clemson entered the contest having lost six of their last eight; Tech, six of their last nine. Tech also needed it to keep its fading NCAA tournament hopes alive.
The Hokies started out hot, hitting seven of their first 10 shots. But they had trouble containing Clemson down low, and ended the first quarter with a 20-17 lead. Wenzel scored 9 of those 20.
The second quarter began for Tech with several empty possessions, and Clemson took an early lead on a Raven Thompson layup. Tech responded with a 9-0 run to take a 29-21 lead. Clemson fought back and narrowed Tech's lead to 35-34 at intermission. The Hokies had no answer early for Clemson's Tessa Miller, who scored 15 (four off her season high) in the first half.
As they did in the first two quarters, Tech went on runs in the third and fourth quarters only to see Clemson claw back. Though they did a better job on Miller, the Hokies had a hard time limiting Mia Moore and Summah Evans. But whenever they needed a bucket, they seemed to get one. Clemson's final run culminated in a last possession in regulation to tie or win. With several fouls to give, Tech wisely used one, leaving Clemson with a short clock to work with and they missed.
As has been the case recently, the difference was shooting. Over Tech's last nine games, they've outshot opponents 57% to 43% (48% to 33% on 3-pointers) when they've won. In their six losses, they've been outshot 49% to 44% (41% to 38% on 3-pointers). On Sunday, the Hokies shot 55% from the field, and even more impressively, 57% (8-for-14) from three point range. Though Clemson shot 53% overall, they were only six-for-22 (27%) from long range.
Tech finished with four players in double figures, led by Carys Baker and Rose Micheaux with 17. Wenzel had 14, as did Mackie Nelson who made a big impact in 30 minutes of action. Clemson's Moore led all scorers with 24. Miller had 19, Evans 13 and Loyal McQueen 12.
The Hokies will face Georgia Tech in the second round of the ACC Tournament Thursday at 1:30 pm ET. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.