Although the Cavaliers pulled down a season-high 45 rebounds and had 15 more than their opponent, it wasn't Virginia's ability to hit the boards that most impressed Virginia coach Debbie Ryan.
"I really feel like we're a pretty good rebounding team and we proved that [against Duke] Friday night," Ryan said. "What we did a lot better this game was put the ball right back up again when we did get offensive rebounds, which ended up being a key for us."
The Cavaliers (13-4, 3-1 ACC) scored 18 second-chance points and shot 63 percent from the field in the second half to pull away from Clemson and register a 68-49 win over the Tigers (7-8, 1-2) Sunday afternoon at University Hall. The win was Virginia's ninth in its last 10 games.
Clemson stayed close with the Cavaliers throughout the first half, and even held a five-point lead with 2:30 remaining in the stanza. The second half was a different story, however, as Virginia was able to find the open player and get easy shots while locking down on the defensive end, holding the Tigers to 21.2 percent shooting from the field.
"I apologize for 20 minutes of the worst basketball in the history of the game since Dr. Naismith hung the peach basket," Clemson coach Jim Davis said about his team's play in the second half. "Without taking anything away from Virginia, the second half was nothing but an exercise in futility for us in defending. It was an on-going layup drill for [Virginia]."
The score was deadlocked 28-28 at halftime, but Virginia came out of the locker room roaring, scoring 11 points during a 85 second span to take a 41-30 lead with 16:56 remaining in the game. Senior forward Jocelyn Logan-Friend registered two blocks, a rebound, a steal and four points during the run.
"At halftime, we knew that we had to pick up the energy," said Logan-Friend, who pulled down seven rebounds and scored 14 points on six for six shooting from the field. "We knew the 2-3 zone was giving them some problems, so we just put up the 2-3 and got after it."
Once the Cavaliers grabbed the double-digit lead, they never looked back. After Clemson's Tasha Phillips hit a jumper to bring the Tigers within nine points, Virginia went on an 8-0 run, bookended by Logan-Friend layups, which pulled the Cavaliers ahead, 49-32. Virginia would lead by as many as 22 late in the second half.
One significant change in Virginia's play in the second half was the performance of freshman point guard Sharnee Zoll. After committing three turnovers and registering only one assist in the first half, the youngster dished out six assists without committing a turnover in the second stanza. She also pulled down six rebounds and scored seven points after halftime. Ryan kept Zoll on the court throughout the entire second half until 55 seconds remained on the clock and the game was securely in Virginia's hands.
"I thought she played really well in the second half," Ryan said of Zoll. "I got on her a little bit at halftime and she responded really well at that and was able to get out of the little funk she was in."
The Cavaliers did struggle in some aspects against Clemson. Virginia made only six of its 17 foul shots and went two for 15 from three-point range. Their long-range specialist, sophomore guard Brenna McGuire, made only two of her nine three-point attempts.
"That's not something I'm worried about," Ryan said of Virginia's struggles from behind the arc. "People are going to key on Brenna and we know that. She did get a number of shots today, they just didn't go down for her. She just needs to get touches and she'll be all right."
McGuire and the Cavaliers head to College Park, Md. to take on No. 15 Maryland tomorrow night looking to maintain their hold of second place in the ACC. Virginia is currently tied with Florida State at 3-1 behind the No. 1 team in the country, the Duke Blue Devils.
Read More
Wrestling gets blown out 34-9 on long road trip to Stanford
By Ryan Weiner | YesterdaySolid performances from its most reliable trio were not enough for Virginia.
Freshman excellence powers No. 5 men’s tennis past Boise State, No. 19 Alabama
By Thomas Baxter | YesterdayVirginia, unlike many other regional hosts, held serve as its quartet's top seed.
No. 1 women’s swimming and diving destroys No. 2 Texas
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayOnce again, Virginia has proven to be head and shoulders above other top programs.
