The UVA women’s basketball team (6-2, 0-0 ACC) picked up a 67-47 victory at Bowling Green (3-5, 0-0 MAC) on Sunday (Dec. 4) at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio.
After hot three-point shooting from the Falcons, the Cavaliers trailed 18-13 early in the game, but an 11-0 run to start the second quarter and another 11-0 run in the third period helped propel UVA to the road win. Virginia forced 24 Falcon turnovers, scoring 21 points off the miscues. The game was the 300th career victory for Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle.
Senior guard Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) led the Cavaliers with 16 points, going 7-of-9 from the field, while also grabbing four of UVA’s 16 steals. Freshman guard Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored 10 points with three assists and four steals. Junior forward Lauren Moses (Mount Holly, N.J.) had nine points with a team-high eight rebounds.
Haley Puk was the only Bowling Green player to finish with double-digit points, scoring 10, including going 2-of-4 from three-point range.
“Our game plan from the start to the finish was to speed things up,” Boyle said. “We came out and got into some foul trouble, so we started to press them to get them out of rhythm. They are a really good three-point shooting team and they execute their offense really well, so I thought our girls did a good job playing for 40 minutes. The press really got our offense going today as well. I thought Breyana took advantage, found her opportunities within the flow of the offense and really committed herself to being aggressive which really helped us today.”
Bowling Green started the game by hitting back-to-back deep three-pointers, putting the Cavaliers in an early hole. UVA trailed 8-2 when junior guard Aliyah Huland El (Randolph, N.J.) pulled up for a jumper from the free throw line to ignite the Cavaliers’ offense. Mason made a layup with 5:15 remaining in the quarter to pull within two, 8-6, before the Falcons hit their third three of the period. A three-pointer from junior guard J’Kyra Brown (Rocky Mount, N.C.) made it a two-point game, 13-11, with 1:45 on the clock, but the Falcons extended out their lead, with Rachel Myers swishing in a three from the corner at the buzzer to put Bowling Green up 18-13.
In the second quarter, Mason scored the first points for either team with a shot-clock-beating three 2:40 into the period. A pair of free throws from Toussaint tied the game, 18-18. Mason stole the ball on the Falcon’s ensuing possession, setting up a jumper from Toussaint to give the Cavaliers the lead. A layup from Moses capped an 11-0 Virginia run that made it a 24-18 advantage. The Cavaliers went on to outscore Bowling Green 18-7 in the period to lead 31-25 at the break.
Carly Santoro drained a three-pointer for Bowling Green 18 seconds into the second half and hit a second three minutes later. Both times UVA immediately responded with points on the opposite end, taking a 37-30 advantage with six minutes remaining in the period. Back-to-back and-ones from Brown and Huland El gave UVA a 44-30 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the period. Mason hit a three pointer with three seconds remaining in the quarter to give the Cavaliers a 52-34 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Virginia, which sat its starters for most of the fourth quarter, outscored Bowling Green 15-13 in the final period to come away with the 20-point margin of victory.
Virginia shot 52.0 percent (26-of-50) while the Falcons were 14-of-44 (31.8 percent). Bowling Green made seven three-pointers, five of which came in the first half, on 24 attempts. Virginia went 3-of-11 from long range.
The Cavaliers have a short break for exams before returning to John Paul Jones on Friday, December 16 when they host UIC at 7 p.m.
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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