The UVA women’s basketball team (5-2) fell 86-63 to Illinois (6-2) in the 2014 ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday (Dec. 3).
Virginia started the game in a 13-0 deficit after going 0-for-8 from the field while also committing five turnovers before making their first field goal 8:12 into the contest. The Illini, who led 38-22 at the break, started the second half on a 21-5 run to put the game out of reach.
“I think Illinois did a really good job of coming out and executing their stuff,” said Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle. “I think that we took a punch early and that put us back on our heels and we never recovered. We started second-guessing ourselves and we let both ends of the floor be affected by that.”
Junior guard Faith Randolph (Derwood, Md.) led the Cavaliers with 16 points. Freshman forward Lauren Moses (Mount Holly, N.J.) had a season-high 13 rebounds, scoring five points with two blocked shots.
Illinois had five players finish in double figures, including Jacqui Grant who had 16 points, going 7-of-9 from the field, with seven rebounds and three assists. Ivory Crawford scored 15 points, on 6-of-7 shooting, with four assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
The Cavaliers went on a run late in the first half, pulling to within 10, 30-20, on a jumper by Randolph with 2:33remaining in the first half, but the Illini responded by going on an 8-0 run, including hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer, to go into the break leading 38-22. The Illini went 3-of-3 from three-point range early in the second half to help stretch their lead out to 59-27 with 14:10 remaining. Virginia ignited their offense midway through the second half, but were outscored 48-41 after the break.
The Illini shot 50.0 percent, including making 17 of 28 shots (60.7 percent) in the second half. Virginia shot 37.5 percent in the game. The Cavaliers held a 42-29 rebounding edge. UVa committed 18 turnovers while the Illini turned the ball over 11 times.
The Cavaliers are now 5-3 all-time in the Challenge while Illinois improved to 4-4. The Big Ten leads the 2014 challenge, 5-3, with eight games set to be played on Thursday.
The Cavaliers return home to host Delaware State on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. in the final game before the team breaks for final exams. Virginia will not have another road game until the New Year when they open up ACC play on Jan. 4, 2015 at Virginia Tech.
Single-game ticket prices for all home games are $10 for Reserved seating, $8 for adult General Admission and $6 for youth (18 & under), senior (60 & over) and UVa faculty/staff General Admission. Fans may purchase home game tickets through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office online at VirginiaSports.com, by phone and in person. The Virginia Athletics Ticket Office is located in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium and open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Telephone purchases can be made by calling 1-800-542-UVA1 (8821) or locally at 434-924-UVA1 (8821).
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Chris Graham
