/
.
Virginia Escapes With 72-71 Win Over UC-Santa Barbara
Story Links
Dec. 2, 2001
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia women’s basketball team opened December with its fourth straight home win in an exhilarating 72-71 come-from-behind victory over UC-Santa Barbara on Sunday afternoon.
The Cavaliers improved to 5-2 overall, while the Gauchos fell to 2-3.
“It’s a great win,” said UVa head coach Debbie Ryan. “The effort in the second half was outstanding.”
In the first half, UVa trailed by as many as nine, 28-19. Following an 8-0 run, the Cavaliers came within four at the break, 35-31.
In the second half, UCSB went on a run of its own to increase its lead by 11 points, 55-44 with 8:58 remaining. Virginia battled back. Freshman LaTonya Blue (Baltimore, Md.) nailed a three-pointer with 3:22 to go to tie the game at 64-64. The teams swapped baskets until freshman Jocelyn Logan-Friend (Cheverly, Md.) put UVa up by one, 70-69 with 1:00 to go.
UCSB’s Jess Hansen converted two free throws to once again go up by one, 71-70. Blue made a driving lay-up, assisted by senior Telisha Quarles (Louisa, Va.), for the game-winning basket with 10.3 seconds on the clock. A travelling violation by UCSB in the waning seconds gave UVa the ball and the one-point win.
“LaTonya (Blue) had big plays that were nothing but net,” Ryan added.
“Obviously, we doubled down on Quarles at the end,” said UCSB head coach Mark French. “Blue made a tough shot. Virginia did an excellent defensive job.”
Quarles paced UVa with a career-high 26 points, including a perfect 7-7 from the line. Sophomore Anna Prillaman (Midlothian, Va.), who nailed four treys, added 17 points. Blue finished with 10 points. For UCSB, Mia Fisher led the squad with 20 points, while Jansen had 14.
“The lane was wide open, so I took it,” Blue said of her game-winning bucket.
“Sometimes someone steps up that you don’t know,” French added, “and today that was Blue. Blue’s a pretty good freshman.”
Overall, UC-Santa Barbara held the rebounding edge, 43-38.
“I thought we out-hustled them,” Ryan concluded. “We didn’t back down. We played with a lot of heart today.”
Virginia opens the ACC slate on Thursday, Dec. 6 with No. 12/14 Duke at 7:30 p.m. at University Hall. Charlottesville’s WINA Radio (1070 AM) will broadcast the game live.
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 1 2 - FinalUC-Santa Barbara (2-3) 35 36 - 71Virginia (5-2) 31 41 - 72
– CAVALIERS –