Carleigh Wenzel was clutch at the line for the Hokies in Sunday’s win at Virginia. (Virginia Tech athletics)
CHARLOTTESVILLE — Virginia Tech did just enough to survive in an 83-82 win at Virginia on Sunday afternoon in its regular-season finale.
“I’m incredibly proud of our effort,” Hokies head coach Megan Duffy said. “Coming into a hostile environment and the Commonwealth Clash, just the way our team showed grit through 40 minutes. We obviously got off to a tremendous start, and UVa made some adjustments, and we just kind of hung in there enough to keep it close.
“And then just the fact that Carleigh Wenzel, just the plays she made on the defensive end, the big free throws, just very proud of the grit and fight today.”
The Hokies (22-8, 12-6) came out on top in what was a roller coaster of a game. Both teams threw punches — Tech led by as many as 23 points before the Cavaliers (19-10, 11-7) rallied — and it came down to the wire.
The game-winning play came from Wenzel, the Hokies’ redshirt junior guard, who drove to the paint and drew a foul from Romi Levy with 1.7 seconds remaining. They were down 82-81, but Wenzel calmly drained two free throws to put them up 83-82.
“Carleigh had the opportunity to take the three or get downhill,” Duffy said. “She had great clock awareness, once they figured out the clock, and I had no doubt that she was going to make those two free throws.”
“If I had the look, take it,” Wenzel said, “but obviously, I just saw two defenders flying out, so I’m going to be a play-maker, whether that was take the shot or see Carys [Baker] on the other side of the floor. Luckily, I got to the free-throw line, and I know I’ve been working with Coach [Sharnee Zoll] on things like that, my routine, what I’m saying to myself at the line, things like that, and I think it came into play today.”
UVa advanced the ball to the frontcourt and inbounded in front of its bench, but its heave from Sa’Myah Smith at the buzzer didn’t fall. Tech smartly doubled Cavaliers guard Kymora Johnson instead of defending the inbounder, and Jillian Brown had to settle for a pass to Smith, who looked surprised to hoist the final shot and could not convert.
Wenzel, who finished with a career-high 29 points on 8-for-19 shooting, which included a 4-for-13 mark from 3-point range and a 9-for-10 clip from the line, left John Paul Jones Arena the hero. However, the story was almost different.
If not for her clutch free throws, it would’ve been UVa’s Paris Clark with the game-winning foul shot, and Tabitha Amanze’s three-point play — where Tech forward Kilah Freelon was whistled for her fifth personal — would’ve been the defining moment. Amanze knotted things up at 81 with 1:08 left while Clark put the Cavaliers up 82-81 with 24 ticks.
The Hokies got the last laugh, though.
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“Just being able to play through mistakes, adversity, physicality, things like that,” Wenzel said. “I think they got hot in the second half and went zone, so just trying to figure that out. I guess we did alright, we won the game, so I’ll take it, but just trying to play through things … and understand to adjust and stay disciplined.”
Wenzel’s effort capped off a wildly entertaining game. Tech was on fire out of the gates, opening with a 10-2 run and leading 27-13 after the first quarter. It hit five 3-pointers, three of which were from Carys Baker, and UVa had no answer defensively.
It was more of the same in the second quarter, and the Hokies pushed the margin to as large as 23 points via an 8-0 run. With 5:25 remaining until halftime, they led 39-16.
“We came out guns a blazing in that first quarter,” Duffy said.
The arena was silent, but the Cavaliers still had a pulse, and it showed over the next few minutes. They went on a 12-4 run to end the second quarter and cut the margin to 15 at the break, 43-28.
Then it was UVa that was the aggressor. After Johnson did not make a field goal in the first half — her lone point was a free throw — she found a rhythm to start the third quarter. An Amanze layup got things started, and after Johnson got two buckets down in transition to ignite a 6-0 run, Duffy called timeout. Johnson kept it going, adding two more baskets on the next two possessions and pulling her team within seven.
It felt like the Hokies were barely holding on at that point as they struggled to crack UVa’s 1-2-2 zone. A seven-point solo run from Wenzel held the Cavaliers at bay for the time being and pushed the margin back to 12, but it didn’t stay that way for long.
Virginia outscored Virginia Tech 9-2 over the next two-plus minutes behind two Romi Levy field goals, a Johnson 3-pointer and another Amanze layup. All of a sudden, it was neck-and-neck, and Johnson drilled a three as the third-quarter buzzer sounded to make it 61-57.
That brought JPJ to life, and though Wenzel opened the fourth period with a triple, the Cavaliers threw a few right hooks with another trey from Johnson and two Clark layups. Like that, the game was tied at 64 with 8:15 left.
Even when Tech went up by six, UVa fought back. When Baker drained a three, Smith answered with a three-point play.
They matched each other — that is, until Wenzel’s ice-in-the-veins free throws, the only separator in the end after a two-hour adventure.
The Hokies never got down on themselves, though, even when it was obvious the Cavaliers were heating up. Instead, they stuck together and fought through their mistakes. When UVa took the lead at 82-81 for the first time since it was 2-0, they leaned into it instead of letting it get to them.
“They can hurt you inside, they can go to the outside, and we just kind of sustained,” Duffy said. “We made some mistakes, but we never had our heads down. We got tougher in those last few minutes, enough that we were in position to execute. I think that was the biggest thing. When they took the lead, it could’ve gone the other direction, and we hung tight, got a couple defensive stops, couple hustle plays, and then I thought we executed really well down the stretch, at least getting a good shot off.”
Baker (16 points, seven rebounds), Mel Daley (11 points) and Kilah Freelon (10 points, five rebounds) joined Wenzel in double figures, as did Mackenzie Nelson, who posted her second career double-double with 10 points and 11 assists (and added six boards).
Johnson paced UVa with 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Clark (16 points), Amanze (11 points, seven rebounds) and Smith (10 points, six rebounds) rounded things out.
It’s Tech’s first Commonwealth Clash sweep since the 2022-23 season — Wenzel’s redshirt freshman year. It’s split with UVa each of the last two years.
The Hokies also have another Quadrant 1 win on the résumé as they gear up for the NCAA Tournament. They’ve still got a shot at some more wins next week at the ACC Tournament in Duluth, Ga., however, where they’ll be the No. 6 seed. That sets up for a potential rematch with No. 3 seed North Carolina, which barely escaped Tech in Cassell Coliseum last week.
That’s an impressive way to cap off Duffy’s second regular season in charge.
“Just staying together,” Wenzel said of the key to success this season. “Everybody being able to do kind of a ‘we over me’ mentality. Nobody was in there worried about getting their own, nobody was worried about how games affected themselves. It was more of how can we get a team win? What can I do to make the team better? …
“Just everybody being able to pour into each other, not really worried about ourselves. That’s what we’ve done all year, and it’s nice to be at the top of the ACC.”
Box Score: Virginia Tech 83, Virginia 82
The Commonwealth bleeds Maroon and Orange 🏆#CommonwealthClash | @SmithfieldBrand pic.twitter.com/wmlRk3XCtm
— Virginia Tech Women’s Basketball (@HokiesWBB) March 1, 2026
