CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- It's just been that kind of year for the Virginia women's basketball team.
The Cavaliers (13-15, 6-10 ACC) held a 34-31 advantage at the half but lost that lead in the first two minutes of the second half and never quite recovered, falling 70-64 to No. 11 North Carolina (22-5, 12-4). It was Virginia's seventh loss by six points or less this season and served as a fitting close to the regular season.
The Tar Heels opened the second half with an 18-5 run that ultimately proved enough to K.O. the Cavaliers. UNC used a balanced attack, with four players scoring in double digits.
"That was the one run we just couldn't overcome," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "We knew it was coming."
The difference for the Tar Heels was their domination of the low post. The Heels boasted a front line with three players as tall as or taller than Virginia's tallest starter. Leading the way was 6'6" center Candace Sutton, who, playing in her senior day finale, scored all 16 of her points in the painted area and grabbed five offensive rebounds. In all, the Tar Heels scored 30 of their points in the area around the basket and out-rebounded Virginia 45-34.
"At halftime we were behind by two in rebounding, and we got on the boards in the second half," UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said.
It was a matter of mental toughness that let UNC take over at the beginning of the second half, said junior forward Brandi Teamer, the game's high scorer with 17 points.
"When you play a team like Carolina that's that athletic, if you don't come in with your mind right, it's going to be a blowout," she said. "We maybe didn't come out [in the second half] with as much intensity as we did in the first half."
On the opposite side of the court, Virginia couldn't finish, missing seven of its 13 point-blank field goals.
"I'd like to believe that sooner or later, they were going to fall," Teamer said of the missed shots. "But it was just one of those days when 'sooner or later' never came."
The Cavaliers' struggles on the inside were matched by their inability to shoot the long ball. For the game the Cavs made only four of 19 three-point shots, with the usually reliable Anna Prillaman going 0-for-5 from behind the arc and finishing with zero points.
"I've got all the confidence in the world in AP and Latonya [Blue]," Teamer said. "I told them to keep shooting."
Now Virginia begins to prepare for the conference tournament. With a 6-10 conference mark, the Cavaliers enter the tournament as the seven seed and will play North Carolina, the two seed, again in the first round of the tournament.
"This hasn't been the best of years for us, but the tournament gives us new life," Ryan said.
In order to advance to the NCAA tournament, the Cavaliers will need to win the conference tourney. The NIT, on the other hand, proves to be an impossible consolation for the Cavaliers. If they lose at any point in the tournament, they will finish the regular season sub-.500 and thus ineligible for postseason play.
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