No. 15 UVa Falls To No. 4 Duke, 81-67

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP)Jasmine Thomas scored 22 points and No. 4 Duke used an 11-0 run to pull away in the second half Thursday for a 81-67 victory against No. 15 Virginia.

Karima Christmas added 18 points for Duke (19-2, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which used a 27-9 run to end the first half to take the lead and never let the Cavaliers get any closer than three again. When Virginia pulled to 50-47, the Blue Devils scored 11 straight.

Virginia (18-5, 4-5) lost its 15th consecutive meeting with Duke. The Cavaliers came in on a three-game winning streak, including a victory against Maryland that ended a 17-game losing streak against the ACC’s top three programs Maryland, North Carolina and the Blue Devils.

Lyndra Littles led Virginia with 29 points and Monica Wright added 21.

Virginia trailed by its biggest deficit to that point at 46-36 with 11:35 left before Littles’ 3-pointer sparked a 9-2 run that brought them to within three. It was still three with 9 minutes to go before Carrem Gay’s 15-footer sent the Blue Devils on the 11-0 burst.

Thomas and Abby Waner scored four each in the run, which extended Duke’s lead to 14.

Chante Black added 13 points and seven rebounds and Waner scored 10 for Duke.

The Cavaliers held Duke to six points on 3-for-19 shooting and forced nine turnovers to build a 16-6 lead after 13 1/2 minutes before the Blue Devils finally started playing well.

Over the last 6:33 of the half, Christmas scored 10 points and Duke outscored Virginia 27-9 to take a 33-25 lead into the intermission. Duke made 8 of its last 11 shots from the floor, while the Cavaliers connected on just 8 of 26 overall in the half and had 10 turnovers.