The Virginia women’s basketball team opened the 2015-16 season with a 70-66 victory at Middle Tennessee on Friday (Nov. 13) in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
The Cavaliers held a 60-49 lead with 7:12 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Blue Raiders mounted a 13-3 run, fueled by three-pointers from Brea Edwards, to make it a one-point game, 63-62, with two minutes left in the game. A layup from junior Lauren Moses (Mt. Holly, N.J.) halted the run. Middle Tennessee missed its final four shots of the game while the Cavaliers made five of six free throw attempts in the final minute to secure the victory.
“Middle Tennessee is a great team and they just came in and battled,” said Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle. “We are lucky to be on the winning side as this was a great environment and a great team and a great basketball game. During that run in the fourth quarter, we had some letdowns on strong-side help that caused Edwards to be open in the corner, twice, which gave them momentum. We started playing tentative. At the end, however, we were able to make some clutch free throws. I’m so proud of our resilience.”
The Cavaliers had a balanced scoring attack with five players scoring in double figures with Moses leading the team with 13 points. Redshirt sophomore guard J’Kyra Brown (Rocky Mount, N.C) scored 10 points in her Cavalier debut, all coming in the third quarter. Edwards scored 30 points for Middle Tennessee.
Both teams started the game with cold shooting, with the Cavaliers making 38.9 percent of their shots in the first half but improving to 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) in the second half. MT shot 33.3 percent in the first half and 41.7 in the second.
Middle Tennessee took an early lead and led through most of the first quarter. Virginia tied the game, 11-11, on a layup from freshman forward Moné Jones (Durham, N.C.) and took its first lead after a steal and fastbreak layup from junior guard Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) with 2:48 left in the first quarter.
UVA led by eight at halftime and took its first double-digit lead, 32-22, after a steal and fast break layup by sophomore guard Mikayla Venson (Arlington, Va.) with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter.
Virginia has now won 10 of its last 11 season-openers.
Virginia will play its first home game of the season on Monday, Nov. 16 when it hosts Norfolk State 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
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Chris Graham
