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Virginia Tech Women’s Basketball: The Megan Duffy Era Off To A Perfect Start

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Virginia Tech Women’s Basketball: The Megan Duffy Era Off To A Perfect Start


Blacksburg, VA- “You can’t win them all unless you win the first one.”

For this new look Virginia Tech women’s side, a dominant win was needed to bring Hokie fans onside. And for first-year head coach Megan Duffy that is exactly what she got after a dominant 99-57 win over University of North Carolina Wilmington Monday evening.

Michigan State transfer guard Matilda Ekh notched a quickfire three just seconds after tipoff, very quickly raising the energy levels of a Cassell Coliseum that was begging to see a near-perfect night.

“It was fun. it’s been like, I don’t know eight months since we played someone else in here. So it was fun. We’ve been waiting a long time,” quoted Ekh after her season-opening 18 points.

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The Hokies exuded what a team in control is expected of doing. When Tech wanted the game fast, they pumped up the tempo and found themselves going on spurts that saw quick passing movements and backdoor cuts that were open allowing over 60 points tallied in the paint on the night.

“That’s also something we have been talking about, I feel like in the preseason. We got stuck on, like, shooting threes and sometimes, you know, not getting to the paint. So that was something we talked about before coming into the game: we have to get paint touches,” quoted Ekh.

Yet, when Duffy wanted to slow things down, you still saw the ball never stick, quick passes were still the name of the game, and Seahawk defenders could never rest as even though the clock was ticking down, the Hokies were moving at electric rates which kept UNCW guessing.

By the end of the first half, Tech held a firm 55-23 score, and even when the Seahawks tallied 23 points in the third period alone, it was a steady reminder of where this squad is at.

“This is exactly what we wanted. It wasn’t perfect, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s the first game season, which is long, but I think the most important thing is that we played hard and played together, which has been our emphasis all summer. 

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Five Hokies tacked over 10 points Monday, with production bearing spearheaded by Ekh who led all scorers with 18, being closely followed by Carleigh Wenzel, Carys Baker, and Rose Micheaux who each tacked on an additional 14.

“People are fighting for time in minutes, and there’s a competitiveness about our young players. There’s obviously some vets and new roles, and so I just felt really good about today where we had at different points a ton of people stepping up,” said a relieved Duffy following her first win in Blacksburg.

Up next for the Hokies is a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina against the Iowa Hawkeyes, in this years Ally Tipoff, the Hokies take the second game as defending national champions South Carolina face off against ACC foe North Carolina State earlier on Sunday.

Additional Links:

Virginia Tech Football: Brent Pry Updates Health of Kyron Drones and Bhayshul Tuten

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Virginia Tech Football: Three Things Virginia Tech Must Fix Ahead Of It’s Matchup With Clemson

NFL Trade Deadline: Former Hokies Running Back Khalil Herbert Traded To AFC Contender



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Virginia Election Results 2026

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Virginia Election Results 2026




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Polls open Tuesday for special election to fill open seats in Virginia General Assembly – WTOP News

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Polls open Tuesday for special election to fill open seats in Virginia General Assembly – WTOP News


Voters are heading to the polls Tuesday for a special election in parts of Northern Virginia to fill two open seats in the state’s General Assembly.

Voters are heading to the polls Tuesday for a special election in parts of Northern Virginia to fill two open seats in the state’s General Assembly.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. for in-person voting Tuesday in Districts 11 and 23, which include parts of Fairfax, Prince William and Stafford counties, as well as Fairfax City.

Tuesday’s special election was triggered when Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger tapped two current members of the Virginia House of Delegates to join her cabinet.

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Del. David Bulova, who represents Fairfax City and portions of Fairfax County, has been asked to lead as Virginia’s next secretary of natural and historic resources.

In nearby District 23, Del. Candi Mundon King is resigning to serve as the secretary of the commonwealth. Her constituents live in parts of Prince William and Stafford counties.

Both exiting lawmakers are Democrats.

Tuesday marks one of several special elections happening this month to fill open seats in Virginia’s General Assembly, including a second contest in another part of Fairfax County. Voters will head to the polls in District 17 next week.

How to vote

The Virginia Department of Elections website has a tool to help voters find their polling location.

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Voters who are 65 or older, or those with disabilities, have the option of voting curbside.

Ballots that are cast by mail need to be postmarked on or before Jan. 13 and received by Jan. 16.

Outside of mailing those absentee ballots, voters can also bring them to a drop-off location. Check in with your city or county elections office for information about drop boxes and their locations.

District 11

Voters will see two candidates on the ballot in District 11: Democrat Gretchen Bulova and Republican Adam Wise.

Both candidates hold some name recognition in Fairfax County and Fairfax City.

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Gretchen Bulova is married to the longtime Del. David Bulova, who is resigning from his position in the house to serve alongside Spanberger.

Wise challenged the incumbent for his seat in 2025 but lost to David Bulova.

The Republican nominee, Wise, is a native of Fairfax who works as a firearms instructor and self-defense teacher. On his website, he promoted a campaign slogan that seems to advocate for restricting the government’s influence on Virginians, writing “the government which governs least, governs best.”

Gretchen Bulova serves as the Director of the Office of Historic Alexandria, overseeing museums as well as other research-centered programs, according to her website. She’s also the chair of the Fairfax County 250th Commission.

Affordability was the top issue of Gretchen Bulova’s campaign, with the Democrat specifically listing priorities of access to affordable housing, child care, electricity and health care on her website.

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District 23

Democrat Margaret Franklin is running against Republican Verndell Robinson for the open seat in District 23.

Franklin represents the Woodbridge District on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. She was first elected to the board in 2019.

With hopes of maintaining the seat for Democrats, Franklin has campaigned on issues such as affordable housing, health care and the economy.

Robinson is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and currently works as a real estate agent, according to a local GOP committee.

Robinson has been a critic of certain data center developments and pressed for more affordable housing.

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Au pair affair: Virginia man accused of killing wife, man to stand trial

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Au pair affair: Virginia man accused of killing wife, man to stand trial


A man accused of carrying out an elaborate fetish sex plot to kill his wife and a man inside his Northern Virginia home is set to stand trial.

Nine men and seven women were selected to the jury Monday in the trial for Brendan Banfield. Four of those 16 jurors are alternates who will step in if other jurors can’t attend for some reason.

Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the killings of his wife, 37-year-old Christine Banfield, and a stranger, 39-year-old Joseph Ryan, at the Banfields’ Herndon home on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023.

Prosecutors say Brendan Banfield was having an affair with the family’s au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, for months before the killings, and that he conspired with his then-4-year-old daughter’s caretaker to get his wife “out of the picture.”

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Peres Magalhães told prosecutors Brendan was the mastermind of the alleged plan. She said he created a fake profile on FetLife.com, a kink, BDSM and fantasy dating website, pretending to be Christine. Peres Magalhães said she and Brendan logged onto Christine’s work computer and used the fake FetLife account to solicit a stranger, Ryan, to the house to carry out a rape fantasy involving a knife.

When Ryan showed up to the house and started carrying out the plan, Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhães burst into the bedroom pretending to save the day, prosecutors said. Banfield allegedly shot Ryan and then stabbed Christine.

Peres Magalhães said in an interview with prosecutors that she also shot Ryan. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter and spoke to prosecutors as part of her plea agreement.

The Fairfax County man accused of murdering his wife and another man in their home will stand trial starting Monday. News4’s Aimee Cho shares what to expect.

Banfield has denied the allegations. Defense attorneys argued in a hearing last summer that investigators have a secret folder of evidence that dismantles the so-called “catfish theory” that Brendan Banfield created the FetLife account.

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A Fairfax County detective trained in digital forensics testified that he pulled and analyzed all the digital data on the devices used to access the FetLife profile. It was his professional conclusion that it was Christine on the computer, not Brendan, he said.

He said during a July 10 hearing that police command staff disagreed with his findings because they didn’t support their theory that Brendan Banfield was behind the fetish site profile.

The detective said his supervisors reassigned him off of the case against his will.

Multiple Fairfax County Police Department employees said under oath that the evidence did not support the theory that Brendan Banfield catfished Ryan to the family’s home.

Opening statements are expected to begin Tuesday, and the trial could take about four weeks.

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News4 is getting rare, video access inside the courtroom. Watch a daily livestream of the trial and follow updates here and on the NBC4 Washington YouTube.



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