The Virginia women's basketball team had its hands full last night, but played tight defense and made clutch plays to squeeze out a 60-58 victory over Virginia Tech. It was the third consecutive win for the Cavaliers (4-2), who prevented the Hokies (3-2) from getting their first victory in Charlottesville since 1976.
"I was very pleased with the way we played," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "I thought our fans did a terrific job tonight - they really put us over the top."
The teams traded baskets evenly at the start of the game, with Virginia's freshman LaTonya Blue and sophomore Anna Crosswhite each hitting a three-pointer early on to get the Cavaliers going.
It was the Hokies who jumped out to the early lead, however, taking a 17-11 advantage after eight minutes of play. Virginia then went on a 7-0 run before Virginia Tech countered back.
Freshman Brandi Teamer, coming into the contest as Virginia's leading scorer at 12.8 points per game, shot an uncharacteristic 1-for-7 from the field. However, she made a huge long-court pass that assisted on a basket by Blue to give the Cavaliers a one-point lead with 3:14 left to play in the half. Virginia would not look back for a while as it finished the half on a 15-0 run to establish a definitive 34-26 lead.
"Brandi was a little bit out of sync, and we had to get her settled down a little bit," Ryan said. "She played much better in the second part of the [first] half."
Ryan was particularly impressed with the way the Cavaliers performed on the defensive end in the first half, holding Virginia Tech to only 41.4 percent shooting from the field and only allowing the Hokies one free-throw attempt. Virginia, on the other hand, shot 44.4 percent from the field in the half and went to the line 12 times, connecting on seven of those attempts.
"I came in the locker room thinking, that was one of the best defensive efforts I've seen in a half by any team that's ever played here," Ryan said. The Cavaliers "came in today very focused, and it was just great to be able to see them do this tonight."
In the second half, Virginia Tech battled back behind the combined scoring of Ieva Kublina and Sarah Hicks. After facing an 11-point deficit with 15:17 left in the game, the Hokies put together an 18-7 run to come to within one point of the Cavaliers. With 4:02 remaining in regulation, Virginia Tech took its first lead in over 18 minutes on a three-point jumper by Lisa Guarneri.
Blue had the assignment of guarding Hicks and made clutch plays on both ends of the floor to prevent Tech from stretching its lead at the end of the game. With 3:12 to play and Virginia facing a three-point deficit, Blue stole the ball off an attempted pass from Guarneri, guiding the way for a three-pointer by sophomore Anna Prillaman on the next possession.
Blue made another crucial steal on the next possession and gave the Cavaliers the lead for good on her following jumper.
Senior Telisha Quarles, who led the Cavaliers with 17 points, iced the game by hitting three free-throws before intentionally missing the last to finish 7-of-8 from the line.
"Everyone played together and stepped up when we needed them," Quarles said.
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