Was it case of discipline or just a clever strategic move?
After spending the first half on the bench for violating team rules, junior forward Anna Crosswhite scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting to lead a Virginia offense that outscored Clemson 46-28 in the second-half to a 69-54 win at U-Hall.
"I'm thinking about doing that in the future," Virginia Coach Debbie Ryan said of keeping Crosswhite on the bench for half the game. "I think it's the greatest idea I've ever come up with."
With four minutes, 55 seconds left in the game and the Cavaliers leading by only two points, Crosswhite drained two straight three-pointers within 30 seconds of each other to ignite a 17-4 Virginia run to end the game.
The Cavaliers (9-11, 3-6 ACC) trailed the Tigers (11-9, 3-6) for most of the first half and committed 13 first-half turnovers, including six in the game's first six minutes. Virginia settled down after halftime and gave the ball up only three times in the second stanza.
"I told them to play more disciplined," Ryan said. "We were throwing the ball all over University Hall tonight. I wanted them to settle down.We went with certain plays and they did a lot better of a job of catching and scoring and just being more disciplined."
Virginia also shot better in the second half (50 percent to 34.6 percent in the first) and forced 11 Clemson turnovers.
"We just executed," sophomore guard Cherrise Graham said. "We started attacking the basket and running our transition, and that helped us a lot."
Graham led the Cavaliers with 22 points, including 8-8 from the free throw line.Graham had broken the Virginia record for consecutive free throws made before snapping her streak at 31 against North Carolina on Thursday. Her current streak now stands at 9 straight.
Although she shot only 3-11 from the field, including 0-3 from the charity stripe, sophomore guard LaTonya Blue earned a team-high nine assists, including a 7-1 second-half assist to turnover ratio.
"LaTonya was unbelievable in the second half," Ryan said. "She got us started in the right direction."
Senior guard Chrissy Floyd had 17 points to lead the Tigers, who were ahead by as much as eight points early in the game and held a 26-23 halftime lead.
The Cavaliers gained a 27-26 advantage early in the second half on a Brandi Teamer layup (17 points, 5 rebounds) but quickly fell behind again.The Tigers held a 46-43 lead with 7:33 left, but a fast break layup by Blue with just under seven minutes to play put Virginia up for good.
"I was glad to see us make adjustments tonight," Ryan said. "Sometimes we're not good at making adjustments, but tonight we did and it really worked."
The victory moves the Cavaliers into a four-way tie for fifth place in the ACC and avenges a 63-62 loss at Clemson Jan. 2.
Virginia will have another chance to avenge an early-season ACC loss Thursday night at U-Hall when the team takes on a Wake Forest squad that gained its sole ACC victory over the Cavaliers.
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