It's more than just a win streak.It's more than just a couple ACC victories.In the words of sophomore guard Cherrise Graham, it's "retaliation week."
The Virginia women's basketball team opened their ACC season with two road losses to conference lightweights Clemson and Wake Forest. This time around, the Cavaliers were able to take on those same two teams at U-Hall and avenge their early season failures. The redemption culminated last night with Virginia's 20-point victory over the Demon Deacons.
"We wanted to get back at [Wake Forest]," Graham said. "This has really been a retaliation week, actually. It really makes us want to win.It's a big pump up."
After getting trounced at North Carolina, 74-54, last Thursday, Virginia entered the second half of its ACC schedule with a meager 2-6 record, including 0-5 away from U-Hall. But the futility that plagued the Cavaliers throughout the early part of their schedule began to recede on Monday night against Clemson.
Virginia was able to overcome a three-point halftime deficit en route to a 69-54 victory over the Tigers, who had taken down the Cavaliers by one point in the ACC opener on Jan. 2.
It was the January loss to Wake Forest, however, that left the most bitter taste in the Cavaliers' mouth.Virginia held a 51-1 overall record against the Demon Deacons going into the game and had won 49 straight contests in the series before losing by a margin in the double digits.
"That's all we've been talking about," sophomore center Brandi Teamer said ofthe humiliating defeat. "This is one team I wanted a lot of revenge on. When we went down there in January they kind of embarrassed us. Tonight, we were able to return the favor."
The Cavaliers were visibly hungry for revenge last night and the team's stars stepped up and provided the performance Virginia needed to win.
Teamer managed only a sub-par 11 points against the Demon Deacons in January.This time around, however, the 6-foot center played like a woman on a mission. In addition to draining 23 points, she went 2-2 from behind the arc.
In January, Graham shot a horrifying 3-14 from the field and managed only eight points. Last night, she came close to a triple-double, snagging seven rebounds, sinking 10 points and dishing out seven assists.
Junior forward Anna Crosswhite did not play in last months' loss to the Demon Deacons, but standing on the sidelines as a helpless bystander made the loss even more painful for the 6-foot-1 forward.
"I didn't get to play in the last game [against Wake Forest] so I was really looking forward to playing tonight," Crosswhite said. "It was a great team effort. Everybody went out there and played to the best of their ability."
Crosswhite played steady defense throughout her 16 minutes on the floor, drawing a handful of charges and stealing the ball twice. She also contributed seven points and two rebounds.
Virginia was able to wreak its vengeance with ease this past week, but will have a much more difficult task ahead of them when they travel to No. 2 Duke on Monday. The Blue Devils handed the Cavaliers their only home ACC loss this season, a controversial 60-59 decision.
Virginia's play has been inspired of late, however, and with the momentum of these last two victories, the Cavaliers are in good shape to threaten Duke's chances of an undefeated ACC campaign.
Seven days already will have passed before the game against the Blue Devils, but if the Cavaliers' appetite for revenge has not been fully quenched, "retaliation week" may very well last at least one extra day.
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