The Virginia women's basketball team allowed a 12-point lead over N.C. State Sunday to cause Cavalier complacency, which, in turn, led to a 72-67 Wolfpack win at University Hall.
Led by junior forwards Jocelyn Logan-Friend and LaTonya Blue, the Cavaliers went on a 16-2 run to go up by 12 points with 11 minutes to go in the second half.
Virginia (12-12, 5-7 ACC) was unable to sustain their energy after a media timeout interrupted their run.
"After that timeout it just felt like they had the momentum and they hadn't even done anything to get it," senior guard Anna Prillaman said. "It was more us giving up the lead than them getting the lead back."
Five minutes after that timeout, the Wolfpack (15-11, 7-6 ACC) had the lead again and refused to give it up. N.C. State hovered around a four-point advantage for the last five minutes of the game, matching the Cavaliers almost point for point until the final buzzer.
The first half of the ACC battle was extremely close. While N.C. State held the lead for a large chunk of the half, the Cavaliers applied constant pressure, forcing five ties and six lead changes. When Prillaman sunk a three-pointer with four minutes to go in the half, it looked like the beginning of the Cavaliers' typical turnaround.
Virginia pushed back to go into the break tied at 24, but did not keep up their momentum consistently in the second half.
One of N.C. State's advantages in the last few minutes of the game was free throws. Ten of the team's 21 free-throw points in the second half were scored in the last five minutes. This was a dramatic change from the first half, when the Wolfpack did not go to the line once.
"We played them at the line way too much," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "You have to keep from putting people at the line. They scored 21 points off free throws in the second half and that hurts."
The Cavaliers also struggled off the bench. Only 11 of Virginia's 67 points were bench points, which is very uncharacteristic of the Cavaliers.
"Some players that usually give us something really didn't give us much at all today," Ryan said.
Logan-Friend, who averages 3.9 points per game, racked up a career-high 14 points, but could not carry the slack for her teammates.
"Brandi [Teamer] didn't get into the rhythm today," Ryan said. "She played with a lot of energy, she just didn't have a lot of rhythm. We couldn't get her the ball either when we needed to."
The Cavaliers also failed to out-rebound their opponents, an element of their game that almost always leads to victory.
The loss puts Virginia at 12-12, 5-7 in the ACC, going into the final stretch of the season. Of the Cavaliers' last four games, two are away, against ranked Duke and North Carolina.
The difficult schedule coupled with the team's mediocre record puts their postseason possibilities in question.
"Its not looking very good, obviously," Ryan said. "We have a tough schedule to finish, but we're not going to quit, we're going to keep fighting."
Virginia's next game is at Duke on Thursday at 7 p.m. If the Cavaliers do not finish with at least a .500 winning percentage, they have no chance of qualifying for the NCAA tournament. Each of Virginia's final four games is crucial as they hover around the .500 mark.
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