RALEIGH, N.C. -- With 1:31 left and the score knotted at 62, Virginia took the ball out-of-bounds as all eyes in the gymnasium turned toward LaTonya Blue to make a play. The junior guard was the obvious choice for the Cavaliers, having already recorded a career-high 10 assists. Instead, after in-bounding the ball, Blue played the role of decoy, coming across the baseline and through two screens. Yet Tiffany Sardin swung the ball to Anna Prillaman to the far wing for an open three, which she promptly sank to give Virginia a lead they would not relinquish.
The Wolfpack (8-10, 0-5 ACC) would see their chance for heroics vanish after Virginia forward Anna Crosswhite drew a charge, and Wolfpack guard Terah James back-rimmed a game-tying three with 31 seconds left. Blue would add another free throw to help the Cavaliers (8-7, 2-2) even their conference mark with the 66-62 win.
"Exactly the play, run to the 'T'," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said of the game-deciding play. "It was just a sideline play. We run it in several times during the course of the game. We just executed it much better at the end."
Playing without junior forward Brandi Teamer for the second straight game, Virginia still outmuscled N.C. State in the paint, snagging a 39-28 rebound advantage and holding two-time All-ACC center Kaayla Chones to just four points with seven minutes remaining in the game. Chones would finish with 11, but Virginia's defensive effort altered State's offensive game plan. The Wolfpack responded by heaving 22 three-point attempts and hitting only five.
"We were playing defense by committee," Kreager said. "She's a great player. She was a point of emphasis for us."
Virginia's post players made an impact offensively as well, as their inside scoring kept them in the game during the first half. Despite watching the Wolfpack go on an early run to take a 17-9 advantage, the Cavaliers utilized some nifty passes from Blue and a few Kreager post moves to strike back. Freshman Brenna McGuire found a cutting Blue who no-looked a bounce pass behind her back to Sardin for the lay-in.
Blue added 11 points to notch her first double-double of the season, and Sardin and Kreager were the scoring force. Sardin poured in a season-high 14 points and Kreager scored a game-high 15 points including 11 in the first half. Their strong play meant Virginia attempted an uncharacteristically low four three-pointers, with Prillaman's late-game winner standing as the only one made.
N.C. State's defense was "way out on our shooters so we drove a lot tonight," Ryan said. "We put the ball in the post a lot. That's what we had to do because they didn't give us a lot of shots."
The Cavaliers found themselves down only one at halftime and Kreager continued her hot hand to start a quick second half surge by Virginia. She netted four of the Cavaliers' eight points en route to taking a 35-30 lead.
But the Wolfpack came roaring back with a 9-0 run, capped by a Nanna Rivers three pointer with just more than 15 minutes to play.
From there on out, the see-saw struggle led to eight tie scores before Virginia pulled away. The Cavaliers are also now enjoying their first three-game win streak of the season and have not lost since falling 69-55 to Maryland Jan. 4. The loss to the Terrapins came on the heels of a three-game skid in which Virginia did not score more than 55 points.
Offense "has been a serious emphasis the past few games," Ryan said. "Since the Maryland game, we have paid particular attention to execution on the offensive end."
Ryan declined to comment whether Teamer, the team's leading scorer, would be back in uniform for Sunday's clash against No. 1 Duke.
"All I can say is that she is enrolled in classes for the spring semester -- that's all I can tell you at this point," Ryan said.
Virginia will need all the offense it can muster to knock off a Blue Devil squad that has scored fewer than 77 points only twice this season. Tip-off is Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at U-Hall.
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