When the dust settled on the NCAA Tournament Selection Show late Sunday night, it was not known how the Virginia Tech women’s basketball team was going to play when they began the WBIT on Thursday night at Cassell Coliseum. Were the Hokies going to use it as motivation for being the first team left out of the 68-team field or would they succumb to the disappointment and be a one-and-done?
After a slow start and a Megan Duffy timeout with her team down 9-0 in the first quarter, the Hokies turned it on at both ends of the floor for a 61-45 victory over North Carolina A&T. The Hokies missed their first eight shots and turned it over three times before a Carleigh Wenzel driving layup got them on the board. The rest as they say was history.
Utah transfer Lani White led Virginia Tech with 18 points and was aggressive at both ends of the floor, including recording a huge block in the third quarter. After the game, she explained why the Hokies are not going to let the disappointment of being left out of the NCAA Tournament bother them.
Lani White explains why the WBIT is important
We have seen it many times before, a basketball team is left out of the NCAA Tournament field and you wonder if they want to be playing in the WBIT or not. According to White, she is blessed to have this opportunity to still be playing basketball this time of the year.
“It’s March,” said White. “This is the most fun time of the year. I think just having the opportunity to play in March is a blessing in itself, so just taking it one game at a time and trying to enjoy it because you can’t win them all unless you win the first one.’’
Virginia Tech played all the players that were available to them Thursday night and that was a huge experience, no matter how much each player played. With this being a young team that hopefully stays together next year and beyond, this can be a springboard for 2025-26 for the Hokies. It doesn’t matter what tournament it is, White and her teammates just want to be playing basketball in March for as long as they can.
Their next chance to extend their season is Sunday afternoon when they host Texas Tech, which beat No. 4 seed Wyoming on the road Thursday night, 65-48. It’ll be a difficult matchup, but they wouldn’t want it any other way in March.