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Women’s basketball: No. 23 Florida State edges past UVA, 63-61

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UVA women’s basketballThe UVA women’s basketball team (6-8, 0-1 ACC) opened conference play with a 63-61 loss to No. 23 Florida State (13-1, 1-0 ACC) on Thursday (Jan. 3) at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Cavaliers were led by a 19-point performance from sophomore guard Brianna Tinsley (Madison, Va.). Senior forward Mone Jones (Durham, N.C.) scored 12 points with seven rebounds while junior guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) had 14 points with eight rebounds and three assists. Kiah Gillespie led the Seminoles with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Virginia shot 38.7 percent (24-of-62) and Florida State shot 41.0 percent (25-of-61). Florida State held a 42-32 edge in rebounding.

In a game with seven ties and 10 lead changes, Florida State’s Valencia Myers made a layup with 46.5 seconds remaining to stake the Seminoles to a 63-61 lead. Both teams missed field goal attempts with their next possessions, giving Virginia the ball with 4.1 seconds remaining. Florida State’s Nicki Ekhomu stole the inbounds pass to wrap up the victory for the Seminoles.

Florida State jumped out to the early lead, holding a 16-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Virginia outscored FSU 15-10 in the second quarter to go into the break down a point, 26-25. In the third quarter, Willoughby scored five-straight points to stake UVA to a 35-30 lead. The Cavaliers built up a 49-43 lead heading into the final quarter, but Florida State went on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 51 with 6:23 remaining. Willoughby hit a three-pointer with 2:53 remaining to put UVA up 59-56, but a pair of free throws followed by a three from Kourtney Weber gave Florida State a two-point edge until junior guard Dominique Toussaint tied the game at 61 with 1:19 remaining. Myers’ game-winning layup was a third-chance shot, with Florida State grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds after a pair of misses in the possession.

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