It looked like it was going to be a tough game from the start. The Lady Hokies traveled to Richmond to take on a revitalizing Lady Ram team, and needed the 2nd half to pull away and hold off a furious VCU comeback attempt. Jessica Dimaro is becoming something special. It’s still Carleigh’s team, and Coach Duffy’s program is going to be special.
It was a Close Game… Until
The Lady Rams are rebuilding. They have a new coach and new players on the floor so predicting how well the game was going to go would be more of a guess than
an actual analytical trip through history. The truth is that both teams have a large number of new components on the floor, and in this one Virginia Tech’s mix of old and new was the critical difference.
The first “New” to discuss has to do with the early, she’s just a Freshman, critical appearance of 6’ 4” Center Jessica Dimaro. Jessy scored and rebounded. In fact, she put up a record game for the Hokies history books. That’s a double-double at 23 points and 24 rebounds! As the stats folks at Tech say, that is the first time, ever in program history.
The Dimaro stats were already impressive by the end of the first half, as the commentators looked down and realized that she was in double figures at the net and on the boards. It was a huge performance for her, and the Hokies benefitted because the lid was on the basket for a good deal of the team during the first two periods.
Carleigh’s Big Rebound (and it wasn’t on the boards)
Carleigh Wenzel was frustrated in the first half. The shots were just not falling, and we all know when Carleigh is on, the team is on, and when Carleigh is having a tough outing, the team struggles. Wenzel had to reach down and figure out what was happening. The game was tied 30 all at the halftime break, and Tech just couldn’t find momentum enough to keep the Lady Rams from hanging around within a few points. Wenzel had barely scored in the first two periods, and the glue that was keeping the Hokies on the court was coming from the Freshman Center and a scattered 14 or so points from the other players. It was a tough half.
But Carleigh is tough, too. Something broke through at the halftime break, and by sheer force-of-will got a layup to drop as the first basket of the 3rd period. She did it again less than a minute later, and the lid finally came off for her. She dropped in two free throws and finally hit a trey with just less than 2 minutes left in the period. That was a huge recovery because she made it to her customary double figures (11) by the 3rd quarter horn.
Alyssa Latham’s First Big Game
Alyssa Latham showed up big for the Hokies starting in the struggle that marked the first half and that continued into the 3rd quarter. Latham ended the game with 19 points (If she’d hit those four missed shots from the charity stripe, she’d have tied Dimaro) and five boards. The most important part of the rebound number though was the ORBs at 4. Second chances can make the difference in a game, and Latham’s offensive board work was important.
Anyia Trent Goes Double Figures for Rebounds
Okay, Trent didn’t manage to get the ball to fall more than twice (she only took five shots from the floor, though), but she did make a monster difference under the basket on both sides of the court with 10 rebounds (4 ORB, 6 DRB) she also had 2 assists and a blocked shot.
The remainder of the bench and starters contributed as Coach Duffy rotated her full 9 player bench/starter mix during the game. Samyha Suffren just wasn’t hitting but managed 8 points 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Kate Sears grabbed a board and pushed out 4 assists. Leila Wells only took 6 shots and scored 4 points. She also pushed 4 assists and swiped the ball twice.
The Team is Back in Cassell on Sunday
The Lady Hokies will get another preseason test, with presumably some good bench player time as LaSalle is visiting the Cassell on Sunday. We probably won’t be covering that one due to the coverage of the football game on Saturday night (there is only so much time on the clock to edit pictures and conduct life.)
It’s definitely looking up (in more ways than one) for the Lady Hokies in 2026-2027.
