No. 14 Virginia Comes Back To Defeat No. 25 Wake Forest, 77-59

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CHARLOTTESVILLE No. 14 Virginia used a 24-0 second-half run to put away No. 25 Wake Forest, 77-59, Sunday at John Paul Jones Arena. Monica Wright scored 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead UVa, which remained undefeated at home and won its ninth-straight game.

“Once you rebound and go, it’s tough to stop us,” Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan said. “We made much better decisions in the second half.”

Virginia (14-2, 1-0 ACC) also got 19 points and eight rebounds from Lyndra Littles and 15 points and seven rebounds from Aisha Mohammed. The Cavaliers are off to their best start since the 1991-92 season, when they were 15-1 through 16 games.

Led by 21 first-half points, including five 3-pointers, from Wake Forest’s Camille Collier, the Demon Deacons led by as many as 16 points in the first half. Trailing 36-20 after a lay-up by Courteney Morris at the 5:40 mark, Virginia was able to put together an 8-1 run and close the gap to 37-28 on two free throws by Mohammed with 1:59 left in the half.

Virginia continued to chip away at the lead and a jumpshot by Wright in the lane as time expired in the first half made the score 39-31 in favor of Wake Forest.

That eight-point deficit was erased with 7:13 left in the second half, as Virginia tied the score at 58-58 on a fast-break lay-up by Ariana Moorer that ignited the crowd. She was fouled on the play, converted the free throw, and gave UVa its first lead of the second half, 59-58.

From there, Virginia scored 18 unanswered points, capping off a 24-0 run that lasted more than seven minutes.

The Cavaliers out-scored Wake Forest, 46-20, in the second half to come away with the 77-59 victory.

Dating back to last season, Virginia has now won 12-straight games on its home court and holds a perfect 10-0 record in JPJA this season.

Virginia improved to 2-1 against ranked opponents this year, adding Sunday’s victory to a Nov. 17 upset at then-No. 5 Tennessee, and improved to 60-2 all-time against Wake Forest.

ACC play continues when Virginia heads to No. 2 North Carolina on Friday, Jan. 16, for an 8:30 p.m. televised game in Chapel Hill, N.C.