In what we can only hope was Tina Thompson’s last game at JPJ as the Virginia women’s hoops coach, the Cavaliers lost 68-57 to #18 North Carolina on Thursday night.
Hey, it wasn’t a forfeit.
It was 21-4 UNC (22-5, 12-5 ACC) seven and a half minutes in, so it might as well have been a forfeit.
“This league is very difficult to play from behind. Period. But when you spot a team 18, 19 points in the first quarter, especially a top-25 team, it’s even tougher,” said Thompson, who at least didn’t sound like a broken record. “We regained our composure and played very well for three quarters but unfortunately, we ran out of time. This game is a four-quarter game. When you start like that, it’s just really difficult to overcome that.”
Yeah.
Virginia (5-21, 2-16 ACC) got 14 points and seven assists from grad student Amandine Toi, one of three players honored before the game in UVA’s Senior Night ceremony.
Junior forward London Clarkson scored 12 points, while junior guard Taylor Valladay added 11 points with six rebounds and four assists.
North Carolina had four players finish in double figures in scoring, led by 16 points from Deja Kelly. Anya Poole led the defensive efforts with 10 rebounds.
The bracket for the 2022 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament will be released on Sunday evening. The tournament takes place Wednesday through Sunday, March 2-6, at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
Meaning, this season mercifully ends for Virginia on March 2.
Story by Chris Graham
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