It was a cooling and windy Fall visit for the Loyola-Maryland Greyhounds rolled into Blacksburg looking to hone some skills and maybe grab a surprise upset. It might have happened until Tech got on a 2nd quarter run and then stayed away.
The Overall Game
There were a few different things about this one that immediately caught the attention of the crowd. The starting lineup included Kayl Petersen and Mackie Nelson. A missing name from the bench roster was one of Game 1’s stars, Kilah Freelon. Coach Duffy was pretty emphatic in the post-game about keeping a tight lid on the reason and explanations. The fact remained that she was missing a major impact player and was forced to move things around a bit, since it seems that Freelon is her main post player.
Loyola-Maryland might be a relatively small school, but Catholic Colleges have a habit of coming up with tough rosters and surprisingly good basketball teams for both women’s and men’s athletics. For many, basketball is their main sport, so they spend time and effort finding good players and coaches. The result is a non-conference game with a good team and two really good inside players with a good coach. Those factors came into play right from the tip-off, against the Lady Hokies in Cassell at 2:00 PM on a blustery Sunday afternoon.
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The First Quarter Didn’t Go as Hoped
The tip-off (Kayl Petersen was an interesting choice since Carys did the duty last season.) didn’t end up bounding in the Hokies’ favor, and it took a bit of scrambling around before Carleigh Wenzel stole the ball, and Mackie Nelson laid it up and in for the first points of the game 35 seconds into the game. That number is significant because Tech wouldn’t score for another 2:20. In the meantime Loyola had put the ball in the bucket twice, and Tech had managed to miss 6 shots. You could see the frustration build on the Hokies side, because even with Loyola missing shots and turning over the ball on a shot clock violation, the Hokies should have been dropping in their attempts, not ringing them out.
Carleigh was fouled during an attempt and got Tech back even 4-4 but continued to miss attempts at field goals until Carys Baker finally hit a jumper with 5:21 on the clock. That seemed to get Carleigh going, who hit a 3-pointer, and Kayl opened her scoring with a layup that pulled Tech ahead 11-10. Neither team would score for another 2 minutes, when the Greyhounds managed to drain 2 free-throws to pull back into the lead 12-11.
The Greyhounds would score 6 with Carleigh being the last Hokie to score by dropping one in from outside the arc, but the Hokies just couldn’t close the gap to end the quarter. The horn sounded with the “sort of stunned” Hokies down a manageable 14-16, but without any rhythm or momentum as they headed to the bench to sort out some possible solutions.
The 2nd Quarter Came, and So did a Hokie Run
The quarter started with a Tech possession, so Coach Duffy put Carys Baker back in and pulled Aniya Trent. It’s impossible to say that changed much, but what happened next did, because Carleigh nailed another trey with an assist from Mackie (more about those “As” for Nelson later) and then assisted Carys as she connected from outside, too. That put 6 quick points on the board, and got the team charged up, because Wenzel laid one in on a hard charging move inside again assisted by Mackie Nelson on the play. Kayl Petersen drained one of her “sort of hookshot layups” to add to the gap, then pushed out an assist to Mel Daley for a smooth layup that stretched the Hokie lead to 10 points. It was a 12-0 run before both teams hit another dry spell which was broken by Kayl Petersen sinking two from the charity stripe to make it a 14-0 run.
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Loyola would put 2 in but fouled Sophie Swanson. Swanson dropped in both of her free-throws, and the Hokies kept the scoring gap at 12, 30-18. The Hokies scoring again went to sleep, as the Greyhounds began to narrow the gap again. With 52 seconds left in the half, Samyha Suffren completed a nifty three-point play that added a bit of insurance with Loyola looking to narrow the gap back down to a score or two before the horn sounded on the half. They made a free-throw, but no one else scored for the remainder. The half ended with Tech up 34-26. Neither team was dominating, but the Tech run had piled enough points between the two opponents that Loyola was just not getting enough momentum together to close the gap much.
No one is fooling anyone. The Hokies were in the lead, but only just barely. As the teams left the court and the rest of us took a break, the game was still in doubt, and Coach Duffy was not only aware, she was also definitely making the team understand that she was.
Tech Needed to Find a Way
The Lady Hokies needed to find a way, or more correctly several ways, to keep up the pressure and maintain that slim lead. Again, as we always say, the third quarter would determine the way the game would end, and Tech needed to find a way to bend the trajectory in their direction. The 2nd quarter run was a good thing, but the momentum had faded by the end. Loyola-Maryland was not scoring, especially from outside, so they seemed to be aiming to play an inside game and work the shot clock. That would end up hurting them in the long run of the game.
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The Greyhounds opened the scoring, narrowing the gap down to 6 points, but Carys Baker, responding like a veteran to the situation, scored two buckets in a row, each with a 1-point bonus because she was fouled on both shots. The Tech defense was working, so while Carys was doing her best Walt Frasier impression with 3-point plays, Loyola was stalled out at 18 points.
The quarter’s scoring was a bit ragged on both sides of the court. But eventually Mel Daley would hit two critical jumpers, and Carys would end Tech’s scoring for the quarter with a layup. Between the two teams the last 2:20 of the 3rd was a wash of misses and turnovers. Tech kept shooting but the lid was on the bucket, and the horn sounded on the quarter with the score locked in at a more comfortable 46-32 in favor of the Lady Hokies. There wasn’t a ton of offensive momentum, there but that applied to both sides, so it was just a matter of the Hokies keeping the exchange even and looking for the final buzzer to close the door.
That Bang Wasn’t Loud as the Door Closed in the 4th.
The back and forth pushed Carleigh and Carys into their usual positions at the top of the scoring chart, but the final points for the Hokies would go to Samyha Suffren as Coach Duffy subbed her in for the final few minutes. The infusion of adrenaline from the speedy Ms. Suffren netted her a steal and a solo fast break for two, and three free throws the final of which ended the scoring for the game on both sides.
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It wasn’t an emphatic door slam, but Tech just kept up working the ball to get some sort of chance at either drawing a foul or making a shot. The big disappointment was that the Hokies didn’t hit the magic 75 score that would have meant sausage biscuits from Bojangles on Monday morning, but no one rooting for Virginia Tech is going to complain too much about a win.
Game Statistics of Note
This wasn’t the high scoring game that had a huge list of double-digit scoring Hokies. This was a grinder in which the team that worked the hardest and made the fewest mistakes was going to take home. The Hokies did get a few players in the notable section of scoring in double digits.
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Nobody double-doubled, but Kayl Petersen just missed by a single board.
Carleigh Wenzel
Carleigh led the game with 18 points. She was 3-8 from downtown, and a total of 5-12 from the floor. She’d have netted five more points if she’d hit all 10 free throws. Carleigh and her coaches aren’t going to be happy with a 50% rate, especially when it was 10 free points if she’d been shooting like the first game. She’ll fix it. Carleigh also pulled down 5 rebounds, registered an assist, and swiped the ball once.
Carys Baker
Carys had a bit of an up and down day, but thankfully the ups far outweighed some of her shooting misses. She ended the game with 17 points. She was 7 of 14 from the floor, with a perfect 2-2 from the charity stripe. She also registered 2 blocks and 3 steals. Carys also added six rebounds to her totals.
Kayl Petersen
Well, how about this one! This is the 2nd game in a row that Kayl has registered in double digits at 10 points. This time she scored 10 points but only took 5 shots from the floor and she hit three of them. Kayl was a perfect 4-4 from the free-throw line. And almost nabbed a 2nd double-double by pulling down 9 boards (3 ORB and 6 DRB). She played some tough defense with 2 blocks registered and pushed out 2 assists on offense.
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Mel Daley, Mackie Nelson, Samyha Suffren, and Sophie Swanson
Mel Daley scored 7 points, pulled down 4 rebounds and pushed out an assist. Mackie Nelson was still not shooting much, but a bit more than usual. She scored 2 points that opened the game but really didn’t connect after that. What she did do, was dish out 11 assists. She was feeding nearly everyone, and even Coach Duffy noted how important that was, even if she’d like to see Mackie score more. Mackie also had a steal and 5 rebounds to go with those assists. Samyha Suffren can pull some serious magic out of a Hokie Bird hat when she gets to the floor. Suffren scored 8 points, all of which were critical, 4 came from the charity stripe. She also had 2 steals, and 2 rebounds. Sophie Swanson didn’t have a ton of time on the court but certainly took advantage of the opportunity by sinking two free throws. Really, she only took one shot from downtown so maybe we’ll get to see her with more time as the season wears on.
Leila Wells and Aniya Trent registered a rebound each, and Wells pushed out an assist.
Next Up, a Thursday Evening at the Cassell
The Hokies will get an extra day or two of practice before the next opponent takes to the Carilion Clinic Court. The Gardner-Webb Lady Bulldogs are coming, and the Hokies have some things to work on. If you are interested here is the link to Coach Duffy’s postgame presser.
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Megan Duffy Postgame Press Conference (11/9/25)
Also, the pictures are still being edited so they’ll be up tomorrow on the Facebook Gallery. The link will be updated here, when we have it.
