Although the Virginia women’s basketball team hung on for a while against Notre Dame, poor shooting, costly turnovers in the second half and an inability to stop the No. 4 Fighting Irish from driving to the hoop plagued the Cavaliers in a 75-54 loss Thursday night at Purcell Pavilion.
Notre Dame (22-2, 8-1 ACC) out-rebounded Virginia 42-30 and scored a combined 66 points in the paint and at the free throw line.
The Cavaliers (15-8, 5-5 ACC) pulled within seven points early in the second half after a strong end to the first, when they whittled a one-time 15-point Fighting Irish lead to only a five-point lead.
Junior guard Faith Randolph started the Cavalier run with a four-point play with 6:07 left in the first half as Virginia cut the 15-point lead to nine. The Cavaliers then chipped the lead to five before missing all their shots in the remaining 2:10 to trail 41-31 at halftime.
Five minutes into the second half, the Cavaliers brought the Irish lead back down to seven after a three-point play by sophomore forward Sydney Umeri. But on their next possession, Randolph, who scored only two points in the second half after pacing the Cavaliers with 14 in the first, forced a jump shot to give Notre Dame another two fast-break points.
The next six Virginia possessions featured two missed jumpers, three turnovers and a missed free throw. Still, the Cavaliers were down by just nine with 10:57 to go. Both teams struggled to score in the next five minutes, but Notre Dame pulled away with a 12-0 run at the 5:30 mark.
The Irish were led by freshman forward Brianna Turner, who finished with 13 rebounds and a game-high 26 points.
The Cavaliers have a weeklong break before they return to John Paul Jones Arena against No. 15 Duke.
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