The UVA women’s basketball team (9-2, 0-0 ACC) picked up a 60-50 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore (6-4, 0-0 MEAC) on Wednesday (Dec. 21) at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers picked up their fourth-straight victory after going on a 13-0 run midway through the third quarter to break open a game that was 25-20 at the half. Maryland Eastern Shore cut a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit down to nine, 56-47, with2:24 remaining, but a layup by senior guard Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) pushed the Virginia lead back to double-digits as the Cavaliers held on for the win.
Junior guard J’Kyra Brown (Rocky Mount, N.C.) scored a team-high 14 points, going 6-of-8 from the field, with nine rebounds, two assists and a key steal late in the fourth quarter. Junior forward Lauren Moses (Mount Holly, N.J.) had her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Moengaroa Subritzky scored 20 points for the Hawks, going 7-of-14 from the field, including making four three-pointers, with five rebounds. Ciani Byrom scored 16 points with four assists and three steals.
Virginia finished the game shooting 36.5 percent (23-of-63) while Maryland Eastern Shore went 20-of-56 (35.7 percent). Virginia held a 48-32 rebounding advantage. UVA grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, scoring 20 second-chance points.
“We are thankful to come out of that game with a win,” said Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle. “It was not one of our best games and I give credit to Maryland Eastern Shore, they came in and played great basketball. This was not characteristic of how we have played this season. That’s the part that is disappointing, that’s not who we are. We have to be consistently the same team every night. We let one end of the floor affect the other. We weren’t making layups and let that hurt us on the defensive side with people dribbling through our traps. We have to be a more consistent team day-in and day-out.”
The first quarter was a back and forth battle with the lead changing hands seven times. Moses provided most of the offense for the Cavaliers, scoring seven of UVA’s first nine points. Freshman center Felicia Aiyeotan (Lagos, Nigeria) put the Cavaliers up 13-12 on a put-back with 1:20 remaining in the quarter.
Virginia started the second quarter on an 11-0 run with a pull-up jumper from Brown putting UVA up 24-12 with 6:16remaining, the last basket UVA would make in the half. Eastern Shore scored eight-straight points with Moses breaking the Hawk’s run by making a free throw with 46 seconds remaining in the half. The Cavaliers went into the locker room with a 25-20 advantage.
The Cavaliers finished the first half missing their final eight shots, with the cold-shooting bleeding into the second half when they missed their first five attempts before Mason drove to the basket, converting a layup to give the Cavaliers a 28-23 lead with 6:07 remaining in the quarter. Maryland Eastern Shore also struggled to find its rhythm, committing four early turnovers, and could not take advantage of the Cavaliers’ shooting drought. The Cavaliers found their stroke, going on a 13-0 run including an and-one from Mason and capped by a three from Brown to take a 41-25 lead.
Virginia headed into the fourth quarter with a 47-32 lead. The Hawks scored seven-straight points midway through the period to make it a 10-point game, 51-41. A three-pointer from sophomore forward Moné Jones (Durham, N.C.) gave the Cavaliers a 56-43 edge, but Eastern Shore cut it single digits on a pair of free throws from Subritzky. A layup from Mason, followed by a steal by Brown that set up a jumper from just inside the arc by freshman guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) helped the Cavaliers seal the victory in the final two minutes.
Virginia will close out the non-conference portion of its schedule when it hosts the annual Cavalier Classic tournamentDecember 28-29 at John Paul Jones Arena. Liberty and Dayton open the action on Wednesday, playing at 4:30 p.m. before the Cavaliers host UMBC at 7 p.m. On Thursday, Liberty and UMBC play at 4:30 p.m. before Virginia and Dayton close out the tournament with a 7 p.m. tip.
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).
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Chris Graham
