The UVA women’s basketball team (13-6, 3-3 ACC) fell 67-58 at Miami (15-4, 5-1 ACC) on Wednesday (Jan. 21) at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Fla.
Virginia held a 27-25 advantage at halftime, but the Hurricanes outscored the Cavaliers 42-31 in the second half to improve to 5-1 in ACC play. Virginia, which lost its second-straight game, fell to 3-3 in ACC games.
Both teams shot less than 40 percent in the game with Miami going 25-of-64 (39.1 percent) while Virginia was 19-of-49 (38.8 percent) from the field.
Despite the cold shooting, the Cavaliers still had four players finish the game with double-digit point totals. Junior guard Faith Randolph (Derwood, Md.) and senior center Sarah Imovbioh (Abuja, Nigeria) each scored 14 points while sophomore guard Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) and freshman guard Mikayla Venson (Arlington, Va.) each contributing 11 points.
Jessica Thompson led Miami with 18 points.
“I thought we got some balls taken out of our hands and then Miami got some second-chance points, which is just deflating,” said Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle. “We had some opportunities for transition when we missed some chippies and some bunnies and we had a shot blocked and they went down and scored on the other end. We didn’t match their physicality in the second half. I think our kids played hard, but they got a bit fatigued. We still won a lot of the battles for 50-50 balls and other situations like that.”
Virginia opened the game with back-to-back three-pointers from Mason and Randolph, building a 10-0 lead as the Hurricanes missed their first seven shots. Once Miami’s offense ignited, the Hurricanes pulled to within one, 17-16, with 7:29 left in the half, but three free throws and a Randolph jumper gave the Cavaliers a 22-16 cushion. Both teams closed the half with cold shooting, with Virginia making two of its final 11 shots while a jumper by Adrienne Motley with 16 seconds left in the half improved Miami’s stretch shooting to 3-fo-9 and narrowed the gap to 27-25 at the break.
Miami tied the game on the first possession of the second half, but an and-one from Mason followed by baskets from Imovbioh and Venson put UVa up 35-27. Miami countered with an 8-0 run, with Michelle Woods scoring three-straight layups. Woods was fouled on the third, going to the line to complete an and-one, giving Miami its first lead of the game, 36-35, with 15:52 remaining. Miami built a 45-41 lead with 11 minutes remaining, but a put-back and then a jumper from freshman forward Lauren Moses (Mount Holly, N.J.) tied the game at 45. Miami answered by scoring nine-straight points over a span of 2:11 to take a 54-45 lead with an Imovbioh layup snapping the streak. Miami had its first double-digit lead, 59-49, after Jessica Thomas got a steal and ran the length of the court for a fastbreak layup. Venson drained a three-pointer moments later, but Miami got an offensive rebound after an initial miss with Thomas making a three to put UVa down 62-52 with two minutes left in the game. A Mason layup with 13 seconds left in the game cut the deficit back to single digits.
Miami held a 40-35 edge in rebounding and outscored the Cavaliers 36-14 in the paint, including holding a 16-0 edge in scoring down low in the first half. Virginia committed 16 turnovers to the Hurricane’s 11.
Imovbioh scored eight of her 14 points at the free throw line. Imovbioh also had eight rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.
Virginia will be back at John Paul Jones Arena on Sunday, Jan. 25, hosting Georgia Tech at 2 p.m. The National Girls and Women in Sports Day game will feature a halftime ceremony honoring former Cavalier Meghan O’Leary as well as a free pregame sports festival from 12:30-1:45 p.m. that includes seven sports stations for youth to visit. Children completing all seven stations will receive a complimentary t-shirt. Admission to the festival is free with a game ticket.
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 openMonday 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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