UVa. women rally to beat Wake

The Virginia women’s basketball team defeated Wake Forest, 61-55, in the final regular-season home game for seniors Chelsea Shine (Wayne, Pa.) and Ariana Moorer (Woodbridge, Va.).

Each senior reached a milestone, as Shine recorded her1,000th career point and Moorer moved into 20th place on Virginia’s all-time scoring list (1,170 points).

The Cavaliers improved to 20-9 overall and 8-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The loss dropped Wake Forest’s record to 16-12 overall and 6-9 in league play.

Sophomore guard Ataira Franklin (Bowie, Md.) was UVa’s leading scorer with 17 points, while Moorer had 15 points and junior guard Lexie Gerson (Fort Washington, Pa.) also added 15 points.

Wake Forest used a 16-1 run over a six-minute span in the first half to take its largest lead of the game, 23-10, at the 10:06 mark on a 3-pointer by Erin Hall.

Virginia chipped away at that 13-point lead and in theprocess Shine connected on her first field goal of the game, a jumper from the free throw line that fell through the net and gave the senior 1,001 points for her career at the 2:39 mark.

Shine is the 28th Cavalier in program history to reach the milestone.

Wake Forest led, 33-25, at halftime.

In the second half, Virginia put together an 8-3 run to cut the lead to 36-33 on two free throws by Franklin with 16:09 to play.

From there, Virginia continued to rally and took the lead, 42-40, at the 9:06 mark on three free throws by Moorer, who was fouled on a3-pointer by Secily Ray. It was Ray’s fifth foul of the game.

The Demon Deacons tied the game once more at 42-42, but Moorer responded with a jumper on the other end of the floor to put Virginia up for good at the 8:17 mark.

Gerson and Franklin connected on key 3-pointers late to hold off the Demon Deacon charge and Virginia held on for the 61-55 victory.

It was the 21st UVa opponent in 2011-12 that the Cavaliers have held to less than 60 points.

Moorer moved into 20th place on Virginia’s scoring list with her 15 points, passing former point guard Sharneé Zoll (2005-08; 1,169 points). No. 19 on the list is Heidi Burge (1990-93) with 1,191 points.

Virginia improved to 62-4 in all-time games vs. Wake Forest and avenged a loss in the first round of the 2011 ACC Tournament.

The Cavaliers secured a sixth place finish in the ACC standings.

Virginia out-rebounded Wake Forest, 42-36, and improved to 14-0 when out-rebounding its opponent this season.

Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle secured her first 20-win season at Virginia. In her 10 seasons as a head coach, Boyle has won at least 20 games eight times.

Wake Forest was led by Chelsea Douglas’ 19 points. Secily Ray pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

It will be a quick turnaround for Virginia as it heads to Florida State for the regular-season finale on Sunday (Feb. 26). Tip-off inTallahassee, Fla., is scheduled for 2 p.m. Seedings and pairings for the 2012 ACC Tournament will be announced later that evening.