Women’s Basketball: UVA rallies, defeats American, 57-54

The UVA women’s basketball team (4-5, 0-0 ACC) defeated American (4-4, 0-0 Patriot) 57-54 on Wednesday (Dec. 5) at John Paul Jones Arena.

Junior guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) led all scorers with a 25-point performance, going 9-of-15 from the field and 5-of-7 from three-point range. Junior forward Lisa Jablonowski (Ernster, Luxembourg) grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds while scoring nine points. Cecily Carl led the Eagles with 21 points. Virginia shot 36.4 percent (20-of-55) while American went 21-of-58 (36.2 percent). Virginia held a 38-34 edge in rebounding.

The Cavaliers twice overcame double-digit deficits to pick up their fourth win of the season. UVA scored the first five points of the game, but American mounted a 15-0 run in the first quarter to lead 18-12 at the end of the period. Virginia erased the deficit and held a one-point advantage with 3:38 remaining in the half, but the Eagles outscored UVA 12-2 down the stretch to take a 34-25 lead into the break.

The Eagles stretched the lead out to 44-31 with 5:51 remaining in the third, but the Cavaliers, ended the third on an 8-0 run and began the fourth on an equal 8-0 run, tying the game on a three from Willoughby and then taking the lead on another trey from the junior guard. Junior guard Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored a go-ahead jumper with 29 seconds remaining.

Senior forward Mone Jones (Durham, N.C.) grabbed a defensive rebound on an American missed shot with 4.4 seconds remaining. Kaitlyn Lewis took a three-point shot at the buzzer, but it was off the mark.