With 17 seconds to play, Anna Prillaman hit a three-pointer to tie Virginia with Florida State at 71. Down six points with 1:40 to play, it was a fitting turn of events in an unpredictable, back-and-forth game at U-Hall.
Fittingly, though, there was one more twist. And this one cost the Cavaliers the game.
Excited by Prillaman's game-tying three, junior forward Jocelyn Logan-Friend ran onto the court from the Cavalier bench. Referee Tony Lippa immediately whistled her for a technical foul, putting Tasheika Allen on the line.
Allen made one of two free throws, and Virginia was forced to foul again on the ensuing FSU in-bounds. Alicia Gladden made her first and missed her second, putting FSU up 73-71.
Virginia coach Debbie Ryan was skeptical of the final call but admitted it was a confusing sequence of events.
"I didn't even know Jocelyn was out there," she said. "She was sitting on the bench when they called the technical. I don't even know what happened. I know that we scored and it was tied."
Ryan continued.
Lippa "said he didn't have a choice, she was on the court at the free throw line," Ryan said. "I said, 'Who's on the court?' and he said Jocelyn."
FSU coach Sue Semrau saw the events differently.
"It was a good call," she said. "You have to make it. But we hadn't gotten many calls, so I was surprised we got that call."
Still, the Cavaliers had a chance to tie or win the game with their last possession. There were 16 seconds remaining on the clock, and Virginia put the ball in the hands of its clutch performer, LaTonya Blue. Four times this season -- including once in Tallahassee for an 82-80 overtime victory -- Blue has scored a game-winning basket.
"We were just going to spread the court," Ryan said of the final play. "We've had a lot of success with that."
Blue brought the ball to the left elbow and made a move on Gladden but fumbled the dribble. With three seconds left, she took an off-balance three-pointer, but the shot was short and FSU's Allen came up with the rebound.
"We knew she was going to take it one-on-one, obviously, and she wasn't going to pass to anybody else, so we all helped," Allen said. "We know in crunch time she's going to have the ball in her hands."
The game was back-and-forth throughout with one player after another stepping up for each team. In the first half, it was Brandi Teamer trading baskets with FSU's Allen.
In the opening of the second half it was FSU junior guard Linnea Liljestrand. Liljestrand, who entered the game averaging 1.5 points per game, exploded for eight points in a span of 2:30 to give FSU a seven point lead.
Virginia answered with a run and took a momentary lead with 6:25 to play before FSU guard Shante Williams responded with nine points of her own down the stretch.
Prillaman closed the game with the hot hand, nailing two threes in the final minute. The second one, however, sent Logan-Friend onto the floor, which ultimately cost the Cavaliers the game.
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