One year ago, the Virginia Tech women's basketball team was the first team left out of the NCAA Tournament. There were a number of factors for that happening, which included some tough losses down the stretch.
One of those losses happened in February when the Hokies traveled to Boston College and fell to the Eagles. They also had some losses to Syracuse and Stanford at home in the second half of the season. Now, a year later and in her second year in Blacksburg, Megan Duffy has her team closing in on a berth. This year, Virginia Tech has had a strong February.
Duffy's team only went 4-3 in the month, but the three losses were not bad losses, at Notre Dame and at home against North Carolina and North Carolina State. Sure, the Hokies would have liked to have won those games, but they won the games they should have. Virginia Tech had wins over Virginia and Georgia Tech at home, while also sweeping their West Coast trip against Stanford and California. Tech will close out the regular season on Sunday at Virginia before the ACC Tournament, sitting in a good spot for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth.
Carleigh Wenzel nets 1,000th career point
In the Hokies' win over the Yellow Jackets on Feb. 22, guard Carliegh Wenzel scored her 1,000th career point at Virginia Tech. The emergence of guard Mackenzie Nelson this year has allowed Wenzel to play off the ball more and become more of a scoring threat than she already was. As for the 1,000th career point, Wenzel gave credit to her teammates, both past and current.
Met the mark! 🐐
— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) February 22, 2026
Congratulations on 1,000-career points, Carleigh! pic.twitter.com/psS6KfUhnk
"I think I've had a lot of amazing teammates in my past years, obviously, Liz Kitley and Georgia Amoore,'' said Wenzel. "So, being able to come in and understand what it takes and things like that. I think people just know how to give me the ball where I'm successful. I think that means a lot. Speaks on my teammates and everything, but yeah, it means a lot. It's a lot of hard work."
Late bye week can help
As the Hokies head to Charlottesville for the regular season final on Sunday before the ACC Tournament this week in Georgia, Virginia Tech's second bye of the 2025-26 season in conference play couldn't have come at a better time. It allowed them to rest before what is going to be a vital stretch the next couple of weeks.