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Women’s basketball: UVA sneaks past Boston College in OT, 79-77

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UVA women’s basketballThe UVA women’s basketball team (9-14, 3-7 ACC) picked up a 79-77 overtime victory over Boston College (14-9, 3-7 ACC) on Thursday at John Paul Jones Arena.

Junior guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) had a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored 17 points with five assists. Makayla Dickens led Boston College with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Virginia shot 40.0 percent (28-of-70) while Boston College shot 50.0 percent (29-of-58), including going 13-of-26 from three-point range. Virginia held a 37-36 edge in rebounding.

The Cavaliers broke open a close game in the second quarter, finishing the period on a 12-2 run to take a 37-24 lead into the halftime break. The Eagles went 3-of-3 from the field to start the second half, mounting an 10-0 run to narrow the gap to 37-34, but a jumper from Jocelyn Willoughby ended the run. Back-to-back three-pointers from Makayala Dickens and Marnelle Garraud erased the remainder of the Cavaliers’ advantage and put the Eagles ahead by one.

Willoughby hit another jumper to temporarily put UVA back in the lead. The game was knotted at 52 heading into the fourth quarter and 59-59 with 4:45 remaining in the game. BC edged out to a 62-60 lead with a minute remaining. Senior Moné Jones (Durham, N.C.) grabbed a critical steal, but the Cavaliers turned the ball back over on the opposite end, giving possession back to the Eagles with 32.6 seconds remaining. Toussaint then stole the ball and was fouled on her fastbreak attempt.

She hit both free throws to tie the game with 17.2 seconds remaining. The Eagles did not get off a final shot as the Cavalier defense forced a turnover with 0.1 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.

In the extra period, Toussaint hit a three-pointer with 3:33 remaining to put the Cavaliers up 68-64. Willoughby battled for a pair of offensive rebounds and then fought to score a layup that gave UVA a 72-68 advantage, but a three from Dickens made it a one-point game. UVA had the ball with 58.2 seconds remaining.

Toussaint drew foul, making a pair of free throws to put UVA up 74-71 with 37.8 seconds remaining. Boston College hit a pair of three pointers in the final 24 seconds, including one at the buzzer to end the game, but the Cavaliers held on for the 79-77 victory.

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