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Jan. 29, 2004
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia hung with 10th-ranked North Carolina throughout the game, but came up short at the end, 75-70, Thursday night at University Hall.
The Cavaliers fell to 9-10 overall and 3-5 in the ACC, while UNC improved to 16-3 overall and 6-2 in the league.
“It was a typical Virginia-Carolina game,” said UNC head coach Sylvia Hatchell. “Virginia has great athletes. They played hard, nip and tuck all the way. We’re just happy for the win.”
In the first half, the Tar Heels held the scoring edge throughout, building up to an eight-point lead, 28-20 with 4:12 to go. Virginia tied the game at 28-28 on a jumper by freshman Siedah Williams (Cleveland, Ohio) with 23.9 to go. Sophomore Deidra Chatman (Oakland, Calif.) gave UVa its first lead to head into the locker room, 30-28.
In the second half, the Cavaliers went ahead by four, 36-32 with 17:49 to go. Carolina regained the lead but never led by more than four points until it went ahead by seven, 69-62 with 3:45 to play. UVa closed the gap to one, 71-70 with 20 seconds to go, but UNC made two lay-ups in the closing seconds for the five-point win, 75-70.
“We did a lot of things great tonight,” said Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan. “We were pretty solid until the breakdowns at the end.”
Williams was the Cavalier leader with 18 points. Junior LaTonya Blue (Baltimore, Md.) added 11 points.
“Siedah played great tonight,” Ryan added. “She was focused and poised to play.”
“It’s devastating to lose to Carolina at home,” said senior Anna Prillaman (Midlothian, Va.). “It’s frustrating. We just haven’t executed. We make mental errors, and we just can’t knock down shots.”
Junior Brandi Teamer (Joliet, Ill.) returned to action for the first time since the Radford game and scored five points to give her 1,000 points in her collegiate career. Teamer became just the 21st Cavalier to achieve the milestone.
“Basically I tried to match the team’s intensity and give a full effort,” Teamer said of coming off the bench. “The loss overpowers that (1,000 career-point milestone), unfortunately.”
Overall, Virginia out-rebounded North Carolina, 33-28. UVa shot 51 percent (28-55) from the field for the third time this season.
Virginia travels to Wake Forest on Sunday, Feb. 1 for a 4 p.m. televised on the Regional Sports Network (locally on Comcast). WINA (1070 AM) broadcasts all the Cavalier games on the radio and the UVa website.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
1 2 - Final
North Carolina (16-3, 6-2 ACC) 28 47 – 75Virginia (9-10, 3-5 ACC) 20 40 – 70
Scores from other ACC games tonight:
Maryland 68, Clemson 55
Wake Forest 57, Georgia Tech 55 OT