Virginia women’s basketball team lost to Florida State 62-37 Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, Fla. The Cavaliers (3-15, 0-8 ACC), who are still looking for their first conference win of 2022, struggled all day on offense.
Virginia shot 11-45 – 24.4 percent – while only converting on only 20 percent of three-point attempts. The Seminoles (10-9, 4-5 ACC) also out-rebounded the Cavaliers 37 to 33.
Florida State also dominated the turnover battle at 25-16, an area that has been the Achilles’ heel for the Virginia offense all year. The Seminoles were able to capitalize on their defensive success, scoring 25 points off of turnovers compared to the Cavaliers' eight.
Graduate student guard Amandine Toi led the Cavaliers with 10 points on 4-11 shooting. She was the one Cavalier to reach double digits and added three assists to her stat line. Senior guard Morgan Jones continued her great season with 16 points, and she leads the Seminoles in points per game with 15.4.
Despite the final outcome, the Cavaliers were quick out the gate in the first quarter. A run of smooth offensive play, capped off by a three-point jumper from Toi, gave Virginia the early advantage with a 9-6 lead. With the help of two baskets from junior guard Sara Bejedi, the Seminoles went on an 8-2 run to end the quarter to have the edge after the first.
After Jones and junior guard Taylor Valladay exchanged baskets to begin the second quarter, the Seminoles took control of the game. The seven Cavalier turnovers in the quarter were a driving force for Florida State’s success. Senior forward Valencia Myers and freshman forward Makayla Timpson added four points each in the second frame as the Seminoles were able to hold the halftime edge at 28-16.
Toi kicked off the third quarter with a three-point jumper on the first Cavaliers possession out of the locker room to reduce the lead to nine. However, the rest of the quarter was dominated by the Seminoles.
After Toi’s three, Florida State went on a 20-2 run for the final 9:46 of the quarter. The Cavaliers went 1-9 on shooting and added nine turnovers during this run, giving the Seminoles a commanding 48-21 lead.
The Cavaliers were able to outscore Florida State 16-14 in the fourth quarter after two straight challenging quarters. Junior forward London Clarkson opened the scoring for the Cavaliers in the final quarter with a free throw. Florida State responded well and scored on four of their next five possessions.
In a game that was certainly not their best, the Cavaliers ended with a bright spot going into their next game. They finished on a 10-4 run and their defense was much better down the stretch.
The first and fourth quarter performances from the Cavaliers should be encouraging, but the team has lacked consistency to win in the ACC this year.
“We just kind of went away from all the things that were necessary for us to stay in this game and give ourselves an opportunity to win,” Coach Tina Thompson said. “It's almost like a broken record … But the reality is that what it is going to take to win in this conference. You have to be disciplined. You have to execute. You have to defend. We have the ability to do so. We just have to decide that we're going to do it over and over and over again.”
The Cavaliers travel to the Silvio O. Conte Forum Thursday to take on the Boston College Eagles. The game will air on ACCNX at 7 p.m.
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