Last night, Virginia's winless home record went up against Georgia Tech's winless road record. At the end of the night, though, only the Yellow Jackets futility remained.
Virginia prevailed against Georgia Tech in a difficult 57-51 victory at University Hall.
The Cavaliers' shooting difficulties returned last night. After putting up 81 points against Wake Forest Saturday, Virginia was held to only 57 by the Georgia Tech defense and shot under 30 percent from the field.
After starting out the game with four three-pointers to take a 12-3 lead, the Cavaliers quickly cooled off, scoring only 10 points in the next 10 minutes as the game settled in to a plodding, defensive contest marred by fouls.
"There was a lot of fouls in the game," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "That kind of disrupts your rhythm."
With six fouls in less than five minutes of play, Ryan was forced to adjust her game plan against the Yellow Jackets. Abby Robertson saw a great deal of unexpected playing time off the bench when Virginia's post players began racking up fouls.
"We gave her the chance to get some experience, but it wasn't the game plan at all," Ryan said. "I had to make sure I had post players to end the game, because they're a very big team."
The Yellow Jackets stayed in the game until the very end. Georgia Tech took its only lead of the game roughly five minutes into the second half. Virginia, however, quickly regained the lead on the next possession and kept Georgia Tech at bay for the remainder of the game.
Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph credits the Cavaliers for keeping their composure when the game had the potential to slip away.
"Virginia did a good job when we took a lead there in the second half of weathering that storm," Joseph said.
A huge defensive effort on the part of Georgia Tech slowed down the Cavaliers' offense. Sophomore Sharnee Zoll had trouble breaking down the Jackets' defense, forcing her into six turnovers and only three assists.
"I just was making dumb decisions that I haven't made in years," Zoll said."Six turnovers is ridiculous. Three assists, that's horrible."
The style of play also took its toll on Zoll. Georgia Tech's defense and the constant fouls made it tough for the Cavaliers to get into any sort of comfort zone.
"It's very tiring mentally," Zoll said. "They play a matchup zone, an amoeba zone, you don't really know what they're in. With the foul calls, you can't get into a groove and get used to anything."
A turning point for the Cavaliers came midway through the second half when Georgia Tech guard Stephanie Higgs fouled out with 8:43 remaining.
After picking up her fourth foul going for a rebound, she lost her composure on the court and was whistled for a costly technical foul, her fifth overall.
"It was key for us was when Higgs fouled out with the technical foul," Joseph said.
With Higgs on the bench, the Yellow Jackets did not mount a serious challenge down the stretch, scoring only six points in the final ten minutes.
Read More
With last-second three-pointer, SMU silences men’s basketball
By Michael Liebermann and Thomas Baxter | 15 hours agoThe late shot crushed a bouncing arena.
With dominance and high hopes, women’s tennis opens the spring season
By Gracie Genereux | 16 hours agoA commanding opening victory set the stage for the season to come.
No. 6 women’s squash falls to No. 5 Stanford in first match of the new year
By Peter Kratz | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers fall to 0-1 in conference play after their first clash with the Cardinal.
