After struggling for most of the first half and trailing by as many as 10 points, the Virginia women's basketball team rode the momentum of sophomore guard Cherrise Graham's 17 second-half points to defeat Maryland 69-58 yesterday at U-Hall. The win moved the Cavaliers (7-9, 2-4 ACC) into a fifth-place tie with the Terrapins (8-9, 2-4) in the ACC.
Virginia closed the first stanza with a 10-2 run and never looked back. The Cavaliers outscored (35-24), outrebounded (26-23) and outshot (34.5 percent to 23.5 percent) the Terrapins in the second half to win their second straight game after losing seven out of eight, including its first four ACC matchups.
Graham led the team and matched her season high with 25 points, including a remarkable 11-of-11 from the foul line.
Dating back to her last game, Graham has sunk her last 18 shots from the charity stripe, a school record for consecutive free throws made.
Sophomore guard LaTonya Blue earned her first double-double of the season, netting 12 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.
Despite turning the ball over four times early in the game, Blue was one of the top performers for the Cavaliers in the second half.
"I thought [Blue] was a little sluggish to start the game," Virginia Coach Debbie Ryan said. "But after sitting on the bench a little bit, she stepped right back in and was able to turn it around."
The Terrapins wasted no time getting on the board, grabbing a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest. Virginia was able to come back and take a 12-11 advantage with 13:53 left in the first half, but then quickly fell behind 25-15.
The Cavaliers were unable to regain the lead until more than 20 minutes later with 13:11 remaining in the game, but once Virginia had the lead, they never gave it up.
Sophomore center Brandi Teamer (13 points, 8 rebounds) and freshman center Deidra Chatman (4 points, 3 blocks) stepped up defensively in the second half while guards Blue, Graham and junior Anna Prillaman (10 points, 4 assists) took care of the offense, scoring 23 of Virginia's 35 second-half points.
Today's contest was Graham's first full game back after serving a two-game suspension for violating team rules.
"I learned a lot sitting out those two games, but I just want to play," Graham said. "So I have to keep myself from breaking the rules and keep myself on the court."
Graham and Teamer both were suspended for the Jan. 9 home contest against No. 1 Duke, and in the two leading scorers' absence, the Cavaliers put forth their strongest effort of the year and led the Blue Devils for most of the game before losing by a heartbreaking one point, 60-59, in a game where Duke's star, junior forward Alana Beard, scored 41 of her team's points.
Lately, however, both Teamer and Graham have impressed Ryan with their team play.
"What Cherrise has done, and what Brandi did after coming back from suspension was they both let the game come to them," Ryan said. "They did not make the team adjust to them, they adjusted to the team, and that's a big thing for us. That's helped a great deal."
With Graham and Teamer back and playing in top form, the Cavaliers will try to extend their winning streak to three games when they travel on Thursday to Florida State, which ranks third in the ACC.
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