Virginia Falls to Liberty, 75-71
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Nov. 20, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia women’s basketball suffered its first loss at the John Paul Jones Arena with a 75-71 decision to Liberty on Monday.
The Cavaliers fell to 3-1 on the season, while the Lady Flames improved to 4-0 overall.
UVa opened the game with a 14-1 run, holding the Lady Flames without a bucket for the first seven minutes of action. Liberty barreled back, tying the game at 26-26 with 4:29 to go in the stanza. Virginia held a two-point lead, 34-32, at intermission.
In the second half, the teams kept it close throughout the first 10 minutes. UVa then went on a 9-0 run to go ahead by nine, 57-48 with 9:27 to play. Liberty forged ahead with a 12-2 run to re-take the lead, 60-59 with 5:03 on the clock. Paced by Megan Frazee’s 31 second-half points, the Lady Flames went ahead by six, 66-60 with less than two minutes to go. Freshman Monica Wright (Woodbridge, Va.) helped the cause with a three-pointer and subsequent free throw to bring the `Hoos within two, 68-66. Despite missing three straight layups, UVa pulled within one, 72-71 on a layup and free throw by junior Sharneé Zoll (Marlboro, N.J.) with 11 seconds remaining. But Frazee converted two free throws with two seconds on the clock to seal the win for Liberty.
For the second straight game, Zoll paced all UVa players with 20 points. Senior Siedah Williams (Cleveland, Ohio) followed with 17 points, while freshman Paulisha Kellum (Upper Marlboro, Md.) came off the bench for a season-high 10 points.
Frazee finished with a career-high 37 points, the most by an opponent player at JPJA. She also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Her triplet sister Molly was the only other Liberty player in double figures with 11 points.
Overall, Liberty out-rebounded Virginia, 48-36.
Virginia travels to Grand Bahama Island for the 2006 Junkanoo Jam. The Cavaliers take on South Dakota State on Friday, Nov. 24 at 1 p.m. Charlottesville’s WINA Radio (1070 AM) will broadcast each UVa game live.