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Nov. 11, 2004

Final Stats

BATON ROUGE, La.- – The Virginia women’s basketball team opened the 2005 basketball season on Thursday with a 60-50 loss to Arizona State in the first round of the Women’s Sports Foundation Classic.

“They played very hard, and they really pushed themselves,” said UVa head coach Debbie Ryan of her team’s performance. “The story of the game was really just missed lay-ups. We would take a shot, and they would be all over us. It was a good first game for us. We’ll take something from this and move on to the next game.”

The Cavaliers now face Maine, which lost to No. 2 Louisiana State in the nightcap, on Friday, Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. CT (6 p.m. ET). WINA (1070 AM) will broadcast that game live on the radio and on the Virginia website at www.VirginiaSports.com.

In the first half, UVa jumped out to an 8-4 lead. Then the Sun Devils went on a 12-2 run to lead 21-12. Senior Jocelyn Logan-Friend (Cheverly, Md.) led the Cavaliers with 10 points, including four free throws. But ASU led by 12 at intermission, 35-23.

In the second half, Arizona State scored five unanswered points to build its lead to 17 points, 40-23. Senior Brandi Teamer (Joliet, Ill.) put Virginia on the board with eight straight points. UVa scraped its way back to cut the lead to six, 46-40 with 6:34 to go. The Sun Devils then went ahead by 10 points, 51-41. UVa did not give up, cutting the lead to four points, 54-50 with 1:16 on the clock on a lay-up by Teamer. ASU closed out play with six straight points for the win.

“We are obviously athletic and were able to take advantage of that tonight,” Ryan added. “When you have to press for 20 minutes, it makes it very difficult. We cut the lead down to four (points), and we were right there, but we’re just not seasoned enough yet.”

Teamer paced the Cavaliers in the opener with 18 second-half points and nine rebounds. Senior LaTonya Blue (Baltimore, Md.) added 10 points and nine boards, while Logan-Friend finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

All three freshmen saw playing time. Sharnee Zoll (Marlboro, N.J.) started at point guard and had three assists and two steals in 33 minutes of action. Guard Takisha Granberry (Charlotte, N.C.) added two points in seven minutes, while guard Denesha Kenion (Oxon, Md.) had three points and a block in 20 minutes of work.

“I think Sharnee did a pretty good job of running the offense tonight, “Ryan said. “I thought she was a little nervous and a little too tight. She was missing her lay-ups. She got out of the offense a little bit, but for the most part she followed directions and put some things on the court that we wanted. She played good, solid defense.”

Kristen Kovesdy paced ASU with 16 points. Kylan Loney added 12 points, while Aubree Johnson had 10 points.

Overall, Virginia out-rebounded Arizona State, 33-31.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

                   	1	2	-	FinalVirginia (0-1) 	23	27	-	50Arizona State (1-0)	35	25	-	60
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