All year long the Virginia Tech women's basketball team has battled through adversity with a small roster. There are games where they don't make things easy on themselves with turnovers and scoring droughts. There have been times when they have been able to overcome them, but not against Texas Tech on Sunday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum in the second round of the WBIT.
The visiting Red Raiders jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never gave up the lead despite the Hokies making one final third-quarter push to cut the lead down to four points, but a dominating fourth quarter was all Texas Tech needed to advance. It was a different outcome after a slow start against North Carolina A&T in the first round. The loss ends the Hokies season at 19-13 in Year 1 of Megan Duffy and closes the career of Matilda Ekh and Rose Micheaux. Here are three quick thoughts for the final time in 2024-25.
Virginia Tech observations from loss to Texas Tech
1. Foul trouble hurt Rose Micheaux
It's been a simple formula for the Hokies this season when Micheaux can stay out of foul trouble, good things happen. Against the Red Raiders, she picked up two fouls early on and spent too much time on the bench for Duffy's liking. Virginia Tech is a different team at both ends of the floor when Micheaux is on the floor.
2. Turnovers and offensive rebounding hurt Virginia Tech
Without Micheaux, the Hokies were beaten up on the defensive boards, especially early in the game. The Red Raiders collected their eighth offensive rebound of the first half early in the second quarter, which turned into a 3-pointer. Texas Tech got too many offensive rebounds the entire game. As for the turnovers, they have been an issue all year and that was the case Sunday. Full-court pressure forced turnovers and also wore down Virginia Tech.
3. Lessons learned despite loss
Class-wise, Virginia Tech is a young team and this was a good experience for the future, but it's a loss that still hurts. Freshman Kayl Petersen played well hitting the boards and finishing a three-point play early in the second half during the Hokies' last run. Sophomore Carys Baker finished with 14 points and six rebounds, but in the end, it wasn't meant to be. It was only a two-game stay, but it was a valuable experience for next season and beyond.
It's not the way that Duffy or the Hokies wanted to end the season, but if you hd said before the season that they would win 19 games and be on the NCAA Tournament bubble with a small roster and building from the ground up, they would have taken it deep down inside.