The Hokies Tough Out HUGE Win Against SEC Foe Florida - The Deep Six

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GAME SUMMARY

Toughness. Grit. Another double-double! Those are the best words to describe Virginia Tech’s 68-64 win over Florida in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Thursday.

Going into the game, the SEC had dominated the ACC.  Could Virginia Tech salvage ACC prestige? (Note: the ACC lost the Challenge, 13-3).  Florida was going to be a tough matchup. Gator guard Liv McGill, #23, is the nation’s 3rd leading scorer, pressuring defenses with her ability to get into the lane under control and finish around multiple defenders. Florida has height and length, often playing three players at the same time who would present challenges for the Tech forwards. The Gators had already defeated two ACC opponents, Florida State and Georgia Tech. If the Virginia Tech women were going to show growth, winning this game would be a good barometer.

Virginia Tech jumped out to a 10-2 lead on the strength of a driving layup by Kilah Freelon, an early three pointer from Carys Baker, a mid-range jumper by Mel Daley, a full-court transition layup by Mackenzie Nelson, and a pass ahead to Baker for a layup. Four of the five Tech starters had scored, forcing the Gators to call a timeout.  Florida regrouped, McGill went to work, and the Gators tied it up. 

The Hokies responded by going up five points off a layup and three pointer from Nelson; Florida came back to take its own four point lead before two Carleigh Wenzel free throws and a Samyha Suffren layup splitting two defenders tied the game up at 19-19 apiece at the end of the first quarter.

From there, the game went back and forth, with neither team leading by more than two-three points until Tech went on a cold spell at the 2:45 mark of the second quarter. Florida took advantage to go up by five points with the Hokies in danger of falling further behind at half-time. Instead, freshman forward  Aniya Trent, in because Freelon picked up two fouls, made her presence felt by scoring off an interior pass from Nelson and drawing a foul. She hit the free throw to close the gap to two.  Baker scored a baby hook on an offensive rebound to tie the game at the half-time buzzer.

The two teams stayed neck-and-neck for much of the third quarter until Baker scored two layups and Daley hit a jumper to put Tech up six, 47-41, at the 5:39 mark. Florida’s McGill and Laila Reynolds personally brought the Gators back to tie the game at 47.  The see-saw battle continued with the third quarter ending with Florida up 52-51.

The fourth quarter saw ties at 55-55 and 57-57 before Daley pushed the Hokie lead to four with two free throws and a beautiful pass from Trent on a backdoor cut to Daley for a layup.  Wenzel followed that with a key play, doubling down to help Trent in the post, stealing the ball, and passing ahead to a streaking Baker for a layup.  Florida did not go away, but Trent went to work on the offensive glass between two defenders for a put back. Laila Reynolds scored on a layup to bring Florida within 65-62 with 1:40 remaining. The game what might be the sequence of the game. Tech turned the ball over for a McGill steal who looked to score a transition layup with 32 seconds remaining that would have brough Florida within at least one. Wenzel raced back to get position and drew an offensive foul on McGill.  McGill fouled out shortly after that, and free throws by Daley and Nelson put the game away for a huge statement win.

“So proud of our team,”  Virginia Tech head coach Megan Duffy said. “I thought our grit, our toughness to finish out the game against a really good, physical Florida team was tremendous. A ton of people contributed, we had an awesome water fight in the locker room after the game, so everyone’s feeling good.”

SIX THOUGHTS AFTER THE GAME

Carys Baker Continues To Surge

Carys Baker has spent the last two off-seasons working on becoming an all-around inside-outside player. She can be deadly from outside as a stretch 4 as we saw last year, but is also working on her offense and defense around the basket. Counted on to be a program leader, she is also one of the best players on the team. However, her start to the year has been tough. Her shooting percentage through the first part of the season has been down from last year (31% from behind the arc), and her touch seemed to be off around the basket. The loss by Virginia Tech against BYU coincided with what may have been Baker’s “low point” this season. In my Deep Dive article covering that game, I argued that Baker’s statistical contribution was not very “impactful”, pointing to 33.3% from the field, 0-2 from three, two rebounds, zero assists, zero steals, zero free throw attempts, and 6 total points.

Baker, in the post-Florida media press conference, discussed her angst: “I had a stretch of time where I think mentally, I was just not having it, like I think I was a little bit frustrated with what I was doing,” Baker said. “I sat down, I talked to Coach Duffy.  I mean, that’s someone I talk to a lot when I have stretches of moments, and it’s basketball, it’s a game of ups and downs, it’s going to happen. So I sat down with her and I talked about it, and I’ve just been talking with my teammates, and they’ve been encouraging me to keep shooting. Mackie (Nelson)  is someone who is always in my ear about shooting the ball, whether or not it’s going in, and I just think them having that confidence in me has helped a lot.”

Baker responded in a huge way in the win over Oregon State, scoring 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Her jump shots around the free throw line and dagger threes helped Tech put away Oregon State. Just as important were her seven rebounds, two assists, and ZERO fouls despite guarding a trio of 6’3+ enemy post players!

Baker continued her resurgence against Florida, joining the team's "Double Double Club". She led Tech with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting from a variety of spots on the court:  three pointers, drives for layups into the teeth of the defense, as well as short jumpers. She also led the team with 10 rebounds, including two on the offensive end (see the offensive rebound and put back to end the first half) and only committed one personal foul against yet another team with length and size. Her performance against Florida was masterful.

Carleigh Wenzel - Contributes Tough Defense

Carleigh Wenzel had a rough shooting night, shooting 2-for-12, mostly due to missing on driving layups against contact, but she found ways to shape the game's outcome. She got a key layup to fall at the 6:30 mark in the third quarter to stop a Florida 4-0 run that had given the Gators a 40-39 lead and allowed Tech to go back in front. Wenzel was fouled and hit both free throws with 32 seconds left in the third to once again give Tech back the lead. She scored another layup at the 8:35 mark in the fourth quarter off a high post entry pass into Baker who passed back to Wenzel curling to the basket to widen Tech’s lead to three points - crucial sequences in a game in which neither could pull away.

The key for Wenzel is to find other ways to affect the game if her shot is not falling. She led the team with 6 assists, only had 3 turnovers, and was second behind Baker with 5 rebounds (defensive). To put that in perspective, two Florida players had team highs of 6 rebounds AND Florida as a team only grabbed 9 offensive rebounds, so the work she and others put on the defensive boards limited Florida’s second chance points.

Nelson expressed ultimate confidence in Wenzel saying, “Carleigh is Carleigh. If her shot is not falling, she is going to find other ways to score. I looked at her one time and told her to keep being aggressive, and she said “I have not made a layup” I said  “I don’t care. Keep going. That is who Carley is, and she might have gone 2-for-12 today, but next game is another game and that mentality, we need her. We need her to take those shots and, whether they fall or they don’t, that is helping us whether she realizes it or not. Carleigh is a willing passer, she is an awesome passer and we were able to knock down shots today, so like i said, when one part of her game isn’t working, the other parts are.”

LISTEN TO EVAN HUGHES CALL OF THE GAME

Wenzel’s most important contribution was her defense. Coach Duffy, in the preseason, talked about how the coaching staff challenged Wenzel to be a great defender, to take on an opposing team's best player. Against Florida, she was tasked with being the primary defender on Liv McGill, who came into the game 3rd in the nation in scoring, averaging 26.3 points per game .

Even though McGill got her points, Wenzel zoned in on the task and helped make life tough for the Gator guard. Wenzel made three game-changing defensive plays late in the fourth.   At the 4:04 mark in the fourth, Wenzel snuck in to help Aniya Trent, snatched the ball from a Gator post, and passed ahead to Baker for a breakaway layup to push the lead to six.  With Florida trailing 63-57 at the 3:45 mark, McGill used a screen up top, which appeared to give her lane to the basket. Wenzel was shadowing McGill, and, instead of giving up the hoop, Wenzel blocked the shot off McGill. Tech ball. With Tech leading by three with 32 seconds left in the fourth, McGill intercepted a Wenzel pass and streaked down court for what would be a potential lead closing layup. Wenzel chased McGill down, got position, and drew a charge, the fourth foul on McGill.  Every play helped hold off Florida and preserve Tech's win.

Key to Game: Waves of Defenders

Wenzel was not alone in defending McGill. Tech threw multiple defenders at the star guard. When it wasn’t Wenzel, it was Mackenzie Nelson, Samyha Suffren, or Leila Wells.  There were moments when Mel Daley had the challenge and used her length to make shots more difficult. Florida used two players at the top of the key to provide screens for McGill, which meant that players like Kilah Freelon, Kayl Peterson, Carys Baker, Aniya Trent, and Amani Jenkins found themselves in the line of fire.  

The Hokies collectively wore her down. McGill scored 30 points, but she was only 11-for-26 from the field and committed 10 turnovers.  She started out hot, going 5-for-8 in the first quarter, often drawing fouls against different defenders. However, the missed shots and turnovers started accumulating, with her going 6-for-18 for the final three quarters. Wenzel was her primary defender on McGil, but credit goes to the entire team effort.

Nelson described the effort on Number 23 (McGill), saying “we were on her all game, whether it was… whoever it was on her. Whatever guard was on her. And it wasn’t just that main guard. We were gapping. We were there to prevent what she could do. At the end of day, I think that helped us win that game.”  Nelson further discussed how the goal was “to make every single shot she takes hard. I think we did that, and we got her to turn the ball over more than normally does, which is awesome.”

She pointed to the defensive effort from “Everyone on the court. Whoever came into the game, it was a 1-through-5 effort. She ended up with 30, but it was not an easy 30. It was hard. We worked all week on being able to make her shots difficult and take contested shots, nothing easy. Obviously, it is a game of basketball, she had a couple, but Carleigh had great possessions down the stretch. We talked about it at the end of the game. But Samyha, Leila coming off the bench, being able to give a different look. Mel with length. It was just all around effort. Even the post players gapping, switching, getting a couple of blocks, frustrating her. At the end of the day, that is what made us successful today.”

In talking about defending McGill, Coach Duffy knew the task was tough but was proud of the team‘s effort. “At times we were doing really well, and then you look at the stat sheet and she’s got 19 at the half. I think the thing that helped us a little bit is her turnovers. We tried to put as many bodies around as we could to try and frustrate her, but she’s also a tremendous passer, so I thought it was a collective effort, whether that was our primary defender on her or a few other people trying to build a wall.”

The key to the game, in fact, went beyond defending McGill; it was an overall team defense. Coach Duffy didn’t even stress about shooting percentages as a factor in the outcome (other than Baker, Trent, and Freelon, no one shot particularly well). She focused on the defense and rebounding that forced 22 turnovers, limited a tall Florida team to nine offensive rebounds, and helped close out the game.

Contributions from Everywhere

As with the collective defensive work, the team won because it got contributions from up and down the lineup.  Even when players seemed to struggle due to fouls or poor shooting, everyone who stepped on the court did something vital at key moments that led to the win. While Baker scored her team-leading 23 points, Daley was second on the team with 12 points. She also chipped in 4 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block.  Wenzel and Nelson added 8 points each. Nelson once again drew yet another charge in what has become her signature of her career.

Freelon was saddled with foul trouble throughout the night to the point she only played 10 minutes; however, she made her minutes count. She set the tone by scoring Tech’s first points on a driving layup in the lane. Then with the game tied at 55-55 with 6:28 left in the game, Freelon grabbed an offensive rebound off a Wenzel miss and put it back in to give the Hokies a lead they would not relinquish.

With Nelson and Wenzel also dancing dangerously with fouls, Suffren played 15 minutes and scored 4 points off a penetrating layup to tie the game at the end of the first quarter and a mid-range jump shot later to break another tie in the third. She also got back to her thieving ways to the tune of two steals. Wells did not score but she provided key relief minutes. In fact, there were times when Suffren and Wells were on the court together to run the team with three starters on the bench!

After fouls affected her time against Oregon State, Peterson played twelve minutes, hit a nice driving, reverse spin, step-through layup against two defenders. While her shooting percentage was not great, she also found other ways to impact the game, adding three rebounds (including two offensive), two steals, and a nice block on - you guessed it - McGill.

One of Florida's biggest issues was that McGill tried to do too much. Clearly, the Gators had a good chance to win; however, when one player takes nearly 50% of the shots, or two players nearly take 75% of the shots, that team is one-dimensional. The Hokies were more balanced, not necessarily in the scoring department (they were, even with Baker's points), but their shot distribution was spread around.  Baker was the higher scorer for VT but only took 16 shots out of 67. McGill was the entire focal point for much of the Florida offense; she was inefficient and the Gators seemed lost in the final moments when she fouled out.

Aniya Trent’s Turn to Shine - Against the SEC

Speaking of contributions from across the roster, Aniya Trent and Amani Jenkins deserve special shoutouts. 

One of the primary concerns going into this year was the situation in the interior. Virginia Tech is not overly big or deep, making the Hokies susceptible to foul trouble. One, if not both, of the freshmen forwards contributing would be valuable to the team in the long run.  Against Oregon State, Amani Jenkins shined. She didn’t score, but she played excellent defense against more experienced bigs and helped distribute the ball from the lane on offense.

It was Aniya Trent’s turn to make a statement against Power 4 foe Florida. She played a rugged 16 minutes in which she rose to the occasion both defensively and offensively.  Aniya got an offensive rebound and put back in the second quarter to pull Tech within one. In the third quarter with Tech down 5, she secured a defensive rebound, beat the Gator posts down court, took a pass from Nelson in the lane, scored, and was fouled. Trent hit the ensuing free throw to bring the Hokies within two. 

Overall, Trent scored a season-high seven points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting, dished an assist, and grabbed five rebounds..

Baker expressed pride in Aniya and Amani, saying, “Aniya has been working so hard. I have been talking to her throughout the past couple of weeks. She is just a worker, so obviously we knew her process was going to come to light somehow and it did today, and I was so proud of her. I was more proud of her than anything.  Even Amani coming off the bench. They are two freshmen. That is a big game to step into and have a big role, and they honestly helped us win that game. Baker thinks Aniya “is going to be really, really good and she is only a freshman. She has not even reached the surface of her skill yet. To come into that game, that was a lot of pressure. When I was a freshman, I was terrified. I don’t even think Aniya looked scared. For her to come in and do that was huge for us.  I am so proud of her and I just hope this builds her confidence even more as we are going to need her down the stretch.”

Duffy also praised Trent, saying “Aniya defensively was really good… She is very smart as a freshman. She knows the game plan and she understands the game really well….The more she gets to play, the better she is going to get. In this stage, obviously, it was a great environment for our fans for her to step up like she did was awesome.”

Both Trent and Jenkins getting quality minutes in late game situations over the last two games shows they are working hard and earning the coaches’ trust. Entering ACC play, it is crucial that they continue to develop.and provide the depth that was missing last year.

Closing Out Games

Last year, the Hokies had mixed results at the end of close games that hurt their NCAA March Madness resume.  An off-season of growth and maturity figured to help the players finish games better. After falling behind, regaining leads, and ultimately losing leads late against JMU and BYU, the question of closing out games reared its head yet again. Tech showed its mettle against Oregon State in the Virgin Islands. However, with the attacking McGill leading the way, this game was there for Florida to take. In the end, Tech proved not fragile, making defensive and offensive plays to overcome an SEC opponent. 

When asked how the Hokies improved their ability to close out the last few games, Nelson said, “We have been working on late game all year, and that is what we executed down the stretch. That was the point. We had our mistakes at JMU. We had our mistakes down the line against BYU. We were able to fix them, work on them at practice, and come back today and execute those.”

What was different, though, against Florida? Nelson pointed to working on late game situations and open communication between players and coaches. She said, “A lot of reps. We do it all in practice. Getting people in the right spots. I think a lot of the time in a couple of other games we had,  we ran the correct play, but the right people were not in the right spots. So, we were able to do that today. The point guards specifically are working on talking to Coach Duffy more at the free throw line, during late game, just to communicate what is going on. We had an awesome crowd today, which is awesome but it makes it really hard to hear sometimes. So just being able to come to her to communicate and execute what she wants on the court.”

Tech did give away the ball a couple of times late in the game but worked hard defensively and on the boards to overcome those mistakes. Coach Duffy thought “the defensive side was great, better than it has been all season, better than it was against JMU and BYU. We have been really trying to study how to limit some of those mistakes at the end of the game. I thought we were tough getting through screens. I thought we scrambled a couple of times, and we were able to get a couple of baskets. Do enough to win and a couple of free throws at the end, but it was all about the defense and rebounding.”

NEXT UP - DUKE

Pre-season ACC no. 1 Duke is coming to Blacksburg this Sunday, December 5 for a 2:00 pm tilt. Duke has looked human to start the season, but four of its six losses have been to #2 ranked South Carolina, #3 ranked UCLA, #5 ranked LSU, and #16 ranked Baylor. Make no mistake, the Blue Devils are a good team that will put a lot of defensive pressure on the ball and challenge the Hokie interior defenders with Toby Fournier leading the way.  Mackie Nelson feels the team is ready as Florida “was the perfect game to prepare us,” she said. “Florida plays physical and pressures the ball. Duke is similar. We will enjoy this one tonight, but tomorrow we reset.”   The Hokies were a similar 7-2 going into last year’s Duke game but - the JMU loss this year aside - defeating a physical Florida feels like an improvement from last season. 

TO READ MORE, SEE THOMAS DISHAROON'S SONS OF SATURDAY ARTICLE ON THE GAME

Youtube Video of Condensed Virginia Tech-Florida Game