The Virginia women's basketball team went on late runs at the end of both halves and weathered an early second half spurt by the Yellow Jackets to bring home their first conference victory of the season yesterday over Georgia Tech, 74-63.
"I think we played good defense most of the night," Virginia Coach Debbie Ryan said. "Our rebounding was really strong tonight and that's what made the difference especially down the stretch, that and the scoring. This was one of our better games scoring-wise."
After struggling through the first 10 minutes of the game, Virginia went on a 10-0 run to pull away from the visiting Yellow Jackets at the end of the first half.
Georgia Tech's half-court trapping zone defense caused Virginia to turn the ball over and take low percentage shots early. Three of the Cavaliers' 12 turnovers came within a minute of each other and they shot only 39 percent from the field making only four of their first 18 shots.
Senior guard Liz Sahin sparked Virginia's burst at the end of the half, hitting two three-pointers and scoring seven points in the half. Sophomore guard LaTonya Blue also performed strongly with 11 first-half points.
"We just tried to get the ball in the shoot area, and every time you get it in the middle try to take it to the basket," Blue said of playing against Georgia Tech's pressure defense. "Just don't back off, I think we saw it as an opportunity to get more transition buckets."
Sophomore Brandi Teamer and freshman Diedra Chatman combined to make seven of 11 first-half free throws to help Virginia to a 32-23 lead going into halftime.
Teamer finished the game with her fourth double-double of the season, bringing in 10 rebounds and scoring 14 points, while Chatman had a career-high 11 points and five rebounds.
Georgia Tech, however, came out of the half strong, hitting five of their first eight shots to take the lead 37-35 with 15:41 remaining. Junior guard Alex Stewart's put up 11 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Stewart, however, scored only one point the rest of the game as the Cavaliers started to make their run.
By the seven and a half minute mark, Virginia had opened up a 55-50 lead, and traded baskets for the next five minutes.
With two and a half minutes left, Virginia wasted no time in starting another run. Prillaman snapped a three and a half game scoring draught to hit three second-half three-point shots, including one with 2:33 on the clock -- sparking a 5-0 run to help Virginia gain a 66-56 lead with two minutes remaining.
"It was pretty obvious when Prillaman hit her first three," Georgia Tech Coach Agnus Berenato said. "She hit three of them, and say what you want -- take away her nine points and it's a different ball game. I think Prillaman's three really, really killed us."
As Virginia men's basketball players Travis Watson, Jason Clark, Jermaine Harper, Keith Jenifer, and Devin Smith looked on from seats near the Virginia benches, the Cavaliers never looked back and went on to win the game 74-63.
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