Before tip-off Thursday night at Cassell Coliseum, it was announced that the Virginia Tech women's basketball team was going to be without center Rose Micheaux. Syracuse took full advantage.
Using a strong inside and outside game, hurting the Hokies on the inside with Micheaux and knocking down 12 3-pointers, the Orange came to Blacksburg and handed Virignia Tech a Quad 4 loss on their tournament résumé. Syracuse entered the game 8-13 overall and 2-9 in the ACC. They have blown leads this season, but despite the Hokies making second-half runs, they continued to make shots to leave with their third conference win. Virginia Tech falls to 15-8 overall and 6-6 in the ACC.
Instant reactions from Virginia Tech's loss to Syracuse
- Virginia Tech scored more than enough points to win the game, but they failed to get many stops defensively. To compound matters, they trailed 91-87 after a Lani White trey with 30.7 seconds left, but the Hokies had to foul five times before getting Syracuse into the bonus.
- Missing Micheaux was big, but not getting stops was huge.
- Carys Baker, Lani White, and Carleigh Wenzel each did everything they could offensively to keep Tech in the game, but it wasn't enough. Baker finished with 24 points and nine rebounds, Wenzel had 24 points and 10 assists, and White had 20 points and four rebounds and four assists.
- Virginia Tech was 12-for-15 from the field in the third quarter when they cut a 12-point halftime deficit to five points heading into the final quarter.
- Syracuse had all five starters in double figures, with Sophie Burrows scoring 28 and knocking down eight of her 12 3-point attempts. She came into the game averaging just over 10 points a game.
- Syracuse finished the game shooting 61% from the field and 57% from behind the arc. Conversely, Virginia Tech shot 51% from the field and 40% from behind the arc.
- Virginia Tech finished with 12 turnovers and some came in the second half when the game was a one-possession game. To compound matters, some were unforced.
Virginia Tech heads to Charlottesville on Sunday afternoon for the second matchup with the Cavaliers, looking to split the season series. After that, a week from tonight they travel to No. 13 North Carolina. It doesn't get easy for the Hokies and Megan Duffy.