UVa. women knock off Florida State

In the regular-season finale for both teams, Virginia defeated Florida State, 66-57. Senior guard Ariana Moorer (Woodbridge, Va.) scored 23 points to lead four Cavaliers that scored in double figures.

With the win, Virginia improved to 21-9 overall and finished the regular-season with a 9-7 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Florida State’s record dropped to 14-16 overall and 6-10 in league play.

Virginia swept the regular-season series with Florida State for the first time since the 2007-08 season, having also won in January, 62-52, in Charlottesville.

Virginia will be the No. 6 seed at the 2012 ACC Tournament. Seedings and pairings will be announced later this evening.

Virginia battled through foul trouble in the first half, as Simone Egwu (Odenton, Md.), Franklin, Lexie Gerson (Fort Washington, Pa.) and Jazmin Pitts (Mosely, Va.) were called for two fouls apiece.

Reserve guard Kelsey Wolfe (Germantown, Md.) stepped up in Franklin’s absence, tallying 11 first-half points. Virginia led at the break, 37-31.

In the second half, Franklin drained an elbow jumper at the 18:52 mark to extend the Cavaliers’ lead to 39-31 and later in the half Moorer put UVa up by double digits with a 3-pointer that made the score 44-33 in favor of UVa with 15:27 left in the game.

Florida State, who honored lone senior Cierra Bravard prior to the game, cut the lead to four at the 13:13 mark on a lay-up by Bravard that made the score 44-40.

Virginia responded with a free throw by Gerson and a jumper by Moorer to push the lead back to seven, 47-40, with 11:38 left in the game.

Florida State had another run in it, however, and tied the game on a reverse lay-up by Natasha Howard with 6:37 left in the game.

Franklin broke a 51-51 tie with a 3-pointer on the left side with 6:12 left in the game to put UVa up, 54-51. Egwu gave Virginia more breathing room with a lay-up on the next Cavalier possession that put Virginia up, 56-51.

An old-fashioned three-point play by Moorer and a 3-pointer by Gerson essentially shut the door on Florida State and capped an 11-0 run by Virginia after the tie score at 51-51.

Wolfe finished with 11 for the game, while Gerson and Franklin added 10 apiece.

Bravard was Florida State’s leading scorer with 24 points.

The seedings and pairings for the 2012 ACC Tournament (March 1-4 in Greensboro, N.C.) will be announced Sunday evening. Check VirginiaSports.com for the most up-to-date information.