Guard Carleigh Wenzel has become an integral part of the Virginia Tech women’s basketball team that has notched seven straight victories in 2026. The Hokies (18-5, 8-3 ACC), who are surging behind a mix of impressive offensive production and defensive strength in the new year, can credit much of the team’s success to what Wenzel is doing on the hardwood. As the season continues to barrel on with the NCAA Tournament lurking in the spring, the redshirt junior has given the Hokies much to be happy about throughout the current campaign.
Wenzel’s success comes as no surprise based off the star’s high school resumé. In her first two years at O’Connor High School in Helotes, Texas, the guard scored over 1,000 points across two seasons, earning Express News Newcomer of the Year as a freshman and a team offensive MVP in the following year. Wenzel finished her career as an O’Connor High School Panther with a combined 50-19 record before traveling to Antonian College Prep High School, where she would shatter her own records to the tune of over 1,500 points across a pair of years. As a member of the Antonian College Prep women’s basketball team, Wenzel carried the team to a combined 53-17 over two seasons, earning TABC All-State and TAPPS Academic All-State honors.
After concluding an impressive four-year high school run as the tenth-highest nationally rated guard in the class of 2022, Wenzel would take her talents to Blacksburg and spend a year redshirting in her true freshman season. When the opportunity to demonstrate her talents came calling as a redshirt freshman in 2023-24, Wenzel answered.
In her first year of action with the Hokies, the San Antonio native saw the court in all 33 games of the 2023-24 season, averaging 4.2 points and 1.5 assists in what was primarily a bench role. Wenzel’s best game of the season wasplayed in the NCAA Tournament later that March, as her 12 points, seven assists, and six rebounds against the Marshall Thundering Herd helped the Hokies to a 92-49 victory.
It was in Wenzel’s redshirt sophomore year that the guard took a major leap forward. With a year of on-court action under her belt, Wenzel started all 32 games in the 2024-25 season, leading the team in points (14.0) and assists (3.6) per game. A plethora of showstopping performances encapsulated the 6-foot speedster’s season, including but not limited to a 25-point, eight-rebound showing against UNC Asheville on Nov. 13, 2024, and a double-double against then-No. 13 Georgia Tech on Jan. 9, 2025, in which Wenzel scored 24 points and dished 10 assists.
Now as a redshirt junior in 2025-26, Wenzel has continued to ride the momentum of impressive offensive contests in what has quickly become a career year. Thus far, the guard has started all of the team’s 23 appearances, averaging 14.0 points, 3.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting 34.1 percent from the field.
As of late, however, the Texas native has utilized her skills on a new level in what is now a seven-game win streak for the Hokies. In Wenzel’s last seven appearances, the guard has posted double-digit scoring figures, including a 24-point game against Clemson and a 23-point contest against in-state rival Virginia on Feb. 1. In the seven straight victories, the redshirt junior is averaging an impressive 17.3 points and 4.0 assists per game.
Virginia Tech Athletics
