After drawing a foul in the paint with 14:40 left in the second half, sophomore center Brandi Teamer clapped her hands in enthusiasm. She and her Virginia teammates were down by 13 points to the Melbourne Tigers, but were beginning to close the gap and improve on a horrendous first half of play. Her optimism waned quickly, however, along with Virginia's improved performance.
Teamer was unable to convert on either shot, and the Cavaliers did not manage to pull within striking distance of their Australian opponents. Virginia eventually fell 61-56 to the Tigers in front of a sparse U-Hall crowd last night in their second and final exhibition game of the season.
Sophomore guard Safiya Grant-Fairley paced the Cavaliers with 14 points, and junior guard Anna Prillaman added 12 points and six rebounds in the loss.
Although the Cavaliers out-rebounded Melbourne 42-30, they gave up a startling 30 turnovers and shot only 37.8 percent from the field. Virginia was unable to control the lead at any time during the contest.
"This is a good wake up call for us, and it's good that it happened in an exhibition," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "You have to let kids make mistakes so they can learn from them, and I think this is exactly what they have to do."
Virginia was able to outscore the Tigers 45-40 in the second half, but a despicable first-half performance left them in a hole too deep to climb out of. The Cavaliers had more turnovers (15) than points scored (11) in the first half. They also were 0-7 from behind the arc and a measly 1-6 from the charity stripe.
The Cavaliers managed to boost their play in the second half, and creeped within three points with four seconds left, but Melbourne guard Helen Roden was able to break free from the Virginia defense and convert a layup as time ran out to solidify the Tigers' victory.
Virginia was missing two starters for the first half, with sophomores LaTonya Blue and Teamer sitting out because of team rules violations, but Ryan did not consider it to be a factor in the loss.
"There's no excuse for the way we played tonight, regardless of who played in the first half or who played in the second half," Ryan said. "We have to play a lot better than the way we did and I know we will."
Sophomore guard Cherise Graham and junior forward Marcie Dickson also missed the game because of rules violations, but will be available for the season opener next Friday at No. 23 Old Dominion.
"I know this is not the team that worked so hard this summer," Teamer said. "There were a lot of turnovers that if we decrease next game we'll have a better chance. We could look at ODU as a good thing or a bad thing, and I think we're looking at it as a good thing. It's a chance for us to redeem ourselves for today."
If Teamer and her Virginia teammates hope to knock off the nationally ranked Rams and possibly climb into the top 25, a more disciplined and consistent performance is in order. A Cavalier team predicted to finish third in the ACC this season will not be satisfied with anything less.
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