Virginia Tech Women's Basketball Falls On the Road at JMU- A Deeper Dive

Initial Note: Thank you to Techsideline’s David Cunningham for providing an audio recording of Coach Megan Duffy’s post-game talk with a limited set of reporters.

In its first game away from Cassel Coliseum, the Virginia Tech women's basketball team lost 65-56 at James Madison in the Atlantic Union Bank Center.  The Hokies were colder than the outside temperature in Harrisonburg with missed opportunities, rebounding, and defense key factors in the loss.

“It was a pretty disappointed locker room,” Head Coach Megan Duffy said. “I thought our effort for 40 minutes was a little bit inconsistent, and you could see when we made our run, we were playing at an intense pace, physical and tough, and we just didn’t do it for 40 minutes.”

GAME SUMMARY

The game began innocently enough: Virginia Tech won the tip but missed a three pointer by Mackenzie Nelson. JMU scored first using a jumpshot off a screen. Nothing to worry about. Virginia Tech responded nicely with Carleigh Wenzel hitting a three and later scoring off a steal and full court layup. However, the signs were there in between those two plays. There was a drive into the lane with a pass dropped to a VT player who tried to shoot in a crowd but missed. Mel Daley drove off a screen but missed a pull up jump shot. Then there was another missed three, but Nelson drew a foul in transition for two free throws and then drew yet another charge! 

Defensively, the Hokies’ “help and recover” effort was very good as they cut off drives and rotated well. Virginia Tech went into the 1st media timeout at 4:45 with a 7-4 lead. Again, ok…slow starts are fine....

Cold shooting and missed opportunities, however, prevented Tech from pulling away while JMU was in the game largely off the strength of several offensive rebounds and putbacks. The game turned  into a back and forth affair with JMU hitting a three to pull into a 13-13 tie at the end of the first quarter.

Tech delivered punches, but JMU seemed to gain more and more confidence. The Rams struck first to take the lead on a straight line drive from the free throw line. JMU scored again on a screen and roll. Tech battled back with a reverse layup by Samyha Suffren and a steal and layup by Wenzel to make it 21-19.  JMU then hit a three in transition and scored off yet another screen and roll to stretch the lead to 26-19. Carys Baker hit a three off a screen by Kilah Freelon, Freelon scored a jumper after making a block on the other end, and then Daley scored a pull up jump to bring Tech within 28-26 at half-time.

The Hokies kept it close for much of the third quarter, staying within five points as neither team scored for over two minutes (from the 5:55 mark to the 3:27). JMU, however, broke the ice, stretching its lead to 11 forcing Coach Duffy to call a timeout. Tech responded with greater defensive intensity, but the offensive drought continued for Tech until there were only 58 seconds left in the third. Only a layup by Freelon and a layup and foul that sent Wenzel to the line allowed Tech to close the gap to six at the end of the third.

The Hokies got back in the game because, as Duffy said, ”We were tougher. We  executed. Found each other. Confident.” Tech eventually took a 52-51 lead off a steal and layup by Nelson as well as a clutch three by Wenzel. 

Baker responded with a second three with 3:36 left in the game to put Tech up 55-53. That was it though; the Hokies could not finish the game out, not scoring again until a Wenzel free throw with 5 seconds left. The offense again was riddled by mistakes - missed shots, a shot clock violation, a bad turnover - while JMU knocked down a killer three and seven free throws down the stretch to seal the game.

SIX THOUGHTS AFTER THE GAME

Missed Opportunities

One of the stories of the first half was missed opportunities. Tech’s defense and offense created multiple scoring opportunities, but the efficiency wasn’t there.  Here are examples of positive situations in the first half that didn’t result in points for Virginia Tech.

• Offensive foul on an illegal screen against JMU leads to a Tech drive and dish into the lane, but the layup is missed.
• Another steal by Virginia Tech, but Tech misses a three point shot.
• A turnover on a pass in the lane.
• JMU drives, but Freelon blocks the shot; however, it doesn’t result in anything.
• A Hokie drives but misses the layup against two defenders.
• Virginia Tech misses a three off an inbounds play.
• The Hokies pass out of a double team near the sideline  to a cutting player on the weakside, but the layup is missed.
• JMU commits another illegal screen, but nothing comes of it.
• Tech drew a charge on a baseline drive by JMU, and on the other end, a dish to a cutting teammate resulted in a fumbled pass out of bounds.
• Tech misses a layup in traffic driving from the free throw line
• Defensive stop leads to a fast break layup attempt that is missed.
• Tech is fouled on an illegal screen and after a bad pass into a crowd, JMU hits a three in transition on the other end.  JMU goes up by 5, 24-19.
• Tech steals the ball and throws it away passing ahead in transition.
• Tech drives and passes inside only to see the ball go out of bounds.

JMU committed 11 turnovers in the first half. This included six steals by the Hokies and several illegal screens by JMU. However, Virginia Tech did little to take advantage of these miscues, only scoring 5 points off those turnovers. The theme of missed opportunities continued throughout the game; JMU finished with 21 turnovers, but the Hokies only scored 19 total points off those turnovers.

Cold Shooting

Wenzel led the team with 20 points. Baker had 11 points mostly off three pointers while Nelson added 10 points. Freelon had a quiet 8 points but, for the most part, that was it (Suffren had 4 pts, Leila Wells had 1, and Daley had 2).  In addition, Wenzel, Nelson, and Freelon are the main players who got to the line off the strength of their ability to threaten the lane (Note: Wells also got to the line for three free throw attempts driving in hard for layups). 

Even those points were a struggle as another storyline of the game was Virginia Tech’s cold shooting. In the first quarter, the Hokies were 4-for-16 from the field, including 1-for-6 from the three point line. It had missed at least three layups, mostly due to anticipating contact and allowing it to influence shots. Tech's shooting didn’t get much better in the second quarter as it was 5-for-15 (33.3%) and 1-3 from three.  Overall, Tech was 9-for-31 from the field (29%) and 2-for-9 from three (22.2%) in the first half. It was more of the same in the second half:  5-for-15 again but 0-for 3 from behind the arc in the third. Fortunately, Tech came alive from three in the fourth (shooting 3-for-7 for a blistering 26.3%) when it took the lead.  Unfortunately, the Hokies could not sustain this down the stretch and, once again, went cold.  To compound the problem, Duffy said, “It led to them (JMU) getting a couple of easy baskets on the other side.”

While some shots seemed rushed or off a mishandled pass at the end, Tech missed many good, open looks at all levels - layups, short jumpers, as well as the three - throughout the game. Overall, Duffy said, “I thought we got great shots and missed a lot of layups, missed a lot of open jump shots. We have to continue to keep shooting and work on our finishing.”

Shooting has been an issue early in the season. So far, the team is shooting 41.9% from the field, which is a sharp drop from last year’s 47%.  Tech is shooting 27.1% from behind the arc. Baker leads the team with a 33.3% for shooters with nine or more attempts, but this is still well below her 41.8%  level from last season. The team as a whole is working hard, playing good defense and getting quality open looks, but it needs to get on a heater soon in order to take advantage of those opportunities.

The offense revolves around getting Wenzel, Baker, and Freelon the majority of the shot opportunities. They need to take advantage of that and hit more.  Speaking of Baker, she has only shot six free throws through six games, none against JMU. For an inside-outside player, she isn't drawing fouls on her interior shot attempts.

(Not) Defending the Screen and Roll

Defending the screen and roll was the key to the game. In my pre-season preview of the Hokies, I pointed to the need for improvement when it comes to handling screening action.  We saw it in the fourth quarter against Coastal Carolina when Tech chose to take away the three. Screen and roll defense continues to be a problem, and JMU exploited it. Tech’s defense to start the game was good, creating all those missed opportunities. However, the Rams began screening Virginia Tech over and over, and likely should have done it more. Tech had good moments when it aggressively switched, fought over the screen, or drew illegal screen calls. Over the course of the game, though, players were slow to rotate, and it hurt

Duffy pointed out, “That was a little bit of their counter. I thought we guarded their other stuff really well and then they went to their pick-and-roll game, and it’s hard when Peyton McDaniel is handling the ball because she can shoot it so well, you want to put a lot of pressure on her, but then that opens up the paint a little bit more. I thought we were very slow on our rotations, and then even when they threw it in and missed an easy basket, then someone was there to clean up the rebound off a scramble, so that was the key to the game, just our pick-and-roll defense when they went to that.”

Rebounding Kills Virginia Tech

Rebounding was a priority in Tech’s scouting report coming in, but it didn’t matter. JMU dominated Tech on the glass to the tune of outrebounding the Hokies 47-27, including snagging 13 offensive rebounds and capitalizing on its advantage. If Tech’s guards have nearly half the team’s total rebounds (The guards grabbed 13 of the 27 rebounds: Nelson with 6, Wenzel with 2, Wells with 3, and Suffren with 2), it is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it shows a team effort on the boards; however, other players needed to up their motors.

As Duffy alluded to rebounding issues when talking about defending the screening action, JMU exploited the poor rotations. It began early as JMU as a team had seven offensive rebounds by half-time and 8 second chance points to zero for the Hokies. It didn’t get any better in the second half when JMU had 13 more second chance points. VT had 3 total second chance points for the game…JMU had 21.

JMU's Ashanti Barnes was a relentless force, a “beast” as Duffy complimented. She had 7 rebounds in the first quarter, 12 at half-time, and 16 for the game. Her total included 5 offensive rebounds. She finished the game with a double double (14 pts to go along with her rebounds). Peyton McDaniel joined Barnes in the double double club with 19 points and 10 of her own rebounds.

Tech’s initial defense on many shot attempts, whether straight up post play or off screening action, forced missed shots. However, the Hokies got caught in scramble situations and there were times few Hokies moved into position to stop another JMU player from grabbing in the offensive rebound and putting it back up.

Duffy acknowledged the problem, saying “Got crushed on the boards, and it was probably our biggest key to the game, making sure we blocked out and did some small things. I thought that really, really hurt us. They didn’t necessarily always score off of it, but it gave them confidence and extra possessions, which ultimately hurt us a little bit.”

Interior is an Issue

Chemistry, shooting, finishing, taking advantage of opportunities, and overall defense can improve over the course of the marathon season. The one concern that may persist is the situation in the interior. Freelon can normally be counted for a near double-double, but she had a relatively limited impact in this game, finishing with 8 points and “only” 7 rebounds. She got in foul trouble in the first half and had to sit for stretches. Peterson came in for small stints but only played eleven minutes total. Aniya Trent and Amani Jenkins didn’t see the floor.

JMU’s domination of the glass, especially offensive rebounds, and Tech’s struggles to stop inside scoring has the potential to be a season-long issue. BYU’s Lara Rohkohl, Duke’s Toby Fornier, Louisville’s Laura Ziegler, Notre Dame’s Kiki Bransford, and NC State’s Khamil Pierre, for example, are going to present problems for the Hokies. It will be imperative for Freelon, Baker, and Peterson to defend well and avoid foul trouble, and it is crucial that at least one of the freshmen forwards provide quality depth over the season.

Depth is Illusory

Speaking of depth, early season games against over-matched opponents cause many fans to think (a) we have depth because a lot of players get minutes, and (b) players will be awesome because they have nice moments that show up in the boxscore.  We think the coaching staff will play a lot of players, and top #100 freshmen will contribute right away. This is an illusion - for now. When the Hokies are in a tight, must-win situation, the rotation will be tight. 

Only 8 players saw the court against JMU, and three of those - Peterson (11 minutes), Daley (18 minutes), and Suffren (14 minutes) - only saw limited minutes for various reasons.  Starters Wenzel, Nelson, Baker, and Freelon played 32-37 minutes, and Wells got extended time in the fourth quarter because, as Coach Megan said, ”Leila Wills was a nice little spark for us in that fourth quarter as well”and “Leila was tough on defense. Physical body. She was working her tail off.”

Neither Trent nor Jenkins saw the court, even when Freelon got into foul trouble in the first half. Sophie Swanson did not play. Daley and Suffren sat for much of the fourth quarter likely due to game dynamics (Wells was doing well). The temptation is to say don’t read into it as this was a fluke, and every game has its own dynamics. We have seen players in different years gain traction over the season. We know Suffren and Daley will play more and, hopefully, Swanson comes along. The new players are in the process of earning the trust of the coaches, so we see how the rotations against tough teams in tight situations evolve over the season.

NEXT UP

The Hokies have to learn from this loss as it moves into the next portion of its schedule. Coach Duffy said they had talked to the team about the JMU game, how “it was going to feel like an ACC environment, which we were looking forward to. I told the team in the locker room that it is going to be a great learning experience for us if we want it to be, and if we learn from some of our mistakes, build on the positive things we did, and be ready to bounce back pretty quickly.”  As Duffy also said about the end of the game, “It was a good experience, getting into that late game situation for this team”.

Virginia Tech continues to travel away from Blacksburg with games this week in the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Hokies will play BYU on Thanksgiving Thursday at 5:30 ET and then play the winner of Oregon State and ranked Vanderbilt on Saturday.

“It’ll be a quick turnaround,” Duffy said. “We’ll get a little bit of rest tomorrow and then we’ll leave Tuesday, and just a great opportunity, these non-conference games. … JMU is going to win a ton of games and then you get a chance to beat a team on a neutral site, so we’ll quickly get ready for BYU and bring that road warrior mentality and see if we can get one back.”

Youtube Highlights of the Game