No. 15 UVa Edged At NC State, 60-54

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RALEIGH, N.C. No. 15 Virginia women’s basketball fell on the road to NC State, 60-54, Sunday afternoon at Reynolds Coliseum. Aisha Mohammed led the Cavaliers with 13 points and 14 rebounds, her 10th double-double of the season.

Lyndra Littles had 15 points for UVa (19-7, 5-5 ACC), while Monica Wright added 12 points.

The Wolfpack (11-14, 3-7 ACC) opened up its largest lead of the first half, 18-8, at the 10:40 mark on a jumper by Nikitta Gartrell. Virginia mounted a comeback and pulled to within three points, 29-26, on a lay-up by Mohammed with less than a minute left.

Mohammed led the Cavaliers in the first half with eight points and six rebounds, while Chelsea Shine provided an offensive spark off the bench with six first-half points.

Virginia started the second half on a 8-0 run, capped off by a transition layup by Littles at the 17:01 mark that prompted an NC State timeout. Leading 34-29, Virginia continued to get defensive stops, as the Wolfpack did not score in the second half until the 12:50 mark on a jumper by Bonae Holston that ended a 12-0 Cavalier run.

NC State responded with a 15-2 run of its own later in the second half, and took a 42-40 lead on a layup by Holston with 7:45 left.

From that point, NC State never gave up its lead and won by a final score of 60-54. Shayla Fields led the Wolfpack with 19 points, while Nikitta Gartrell added 15 and Bonae Holston contributed 12.

“They hit shots at critical times and for that they deserve all the credit,” Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan said.

Sunday’s game was NC State’s annual Hoops For Hope fundraiser, a breast cancer awareness event. It was the first advance sell-out in the history of NC State women’s basketball.

Up next for Virginia is a home contest against Miami on Thursday, Feb. 19. Tip-off from John Paul Jones Arena is 7 p.m.