Women’s basketball: UVA downs UMBC 56-30 in Cavalier Classic

The UVA women’s basketball team (10-2, 0-0 ACC) picked up its fifth-straight victory with a 56-30 win over UMBC (3-8, 0-0 America East) on Wednesday (Dec. 28) in the Cavalier Classic Tournament Presented by Doubletree by Hilton Charlottesville at John Paul Jones Arena.

“It is good to be back after having a couple of days off and I am happy to come out with a win tonight,” said Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle. “Defensively, we have been really solid this year. I don’t think we shot the ball particularly well and didn’t have good balance until the fourth quarter, but the girls stayed with it. We had a good substitution pattern and we got into rhythm in the fourth quarter. UMBC sat in the zone all night and we just didn’t finish and weren’t making shots. I don’t think we quit on the defensive end, we were still engaged on that end of the floor. As I told the girls, the shots will come. We have to start moving the ball better. We just have to finish better around the rim and we have to take care of the ball.”

Virginia held a 23-10 lead at the half and put the game away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Retrievers 19-10 in the period. Virginia held UMBC to 22.2 percent shooting (12-of-54), including a 4-of-23 efficiency in the first half. Virginia dominated on the boards with a 46-31 rebounding edge.

Junior forward Lauren Moses (Mount Holly, N.J.) scored a game-high 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Freshman guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) scored 11 points. Junior guard J’Kyra Brown (Rocky Mount, N.C.) led the defensive efforts with 10 rebounds while scoring nine points with three assists and two steals.

UMBC’s Tyler Moore scored eight points with five rebounds.

This was the 100th victory for Joanne Boyle as the head coach of the Cavaliers. Boyle picked up her 300th overall career victory earlier this month.

Moses scored six of Virginia’s first eight points, helping to stake the Cavaliers to a 17-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, both offenses stalled. UMBC began the period missing its first 10 shots, with seven of those attempts coming from long range. The Cavaliers made their final field goal of the half with 6:27 remaining. UVA outscored the Retrievers 6-2 in the period to go into the break with a 23-10 lead.

UMBC scored six quick points in a 51-second span midway through the third quarter on a three-pointer from Laura Castalado flanked by a free throw and a layup from Te’yJah Oliver to make it a 10-point game, 30-20, but junior guard Aliyah Huland El (Randolph, N.J.) nipped the run by hitting a pull-up jumper with 4:28 remaining. Huland El floated in another jumper two minutes later to extend the UVA lead out to 14, 34-20. A three-pointer from freshman guard Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) just before the end of the period sent the Cavaliers into the fourth quarter with a 37-20 advantage.

Virginia built up a cushion in the fourth quarter, going on an 8-0 run capped by a layup from Willoughby with 6:19remaining to give UVA a 45-23 edge. The Cavaliers scored the final seven points of the game, including a three-pointer and a pair of free throws from Brown, to seal the victory.

In the opening game of the tournament, Dayton downed Liberty 82-53, with the Flyers scoring 30 points in the fourth quarter.  JaVonna Layfield led all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-6 shooting to go with seven rebounds.

The Cavalier Classic concludes tomorrow (Dec. 29) with Liberty taking on UMBC at 4:30 followed by Virginia and Dayton at 7 p.m.

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).