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GREENSBORO, N.C. – The sixth-seeded Virginia women’s basketball team (23-9, 8-6 ACC) fell to third-seeded Duke, 76-53, Friday in the quarterfinals of the 2009 ACC Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum. Senior Aisha Mohammed led Virginia with 14 points and just missed a double-double performance with nine rebounds.
Junior Monica Wright scored 13 while Lyndra Littles added eight and finished with a team-best 10 boards. Ariana Moorer and Kristen London contributed six points apiece.
The Blue Devils (25-4, 11-3 ACC), who move on to play Florida State Saturday in the semifinals, dominated the whole game. Led by Abby Waner’s game-high 16 points, Duke jumped out to a 17-2 lead in the first seven minutes, which included a 15-0 Blue Devil run. After leading 27-6 with 7:36 to play in the first half, a three-point play by Monica Wright sparked a 7-2 Virginia run. But Duke kept up a strong pace to lead by as many as 25 in the first stanza, 42-17, with just under two minutes to play.
After a timeout, the Cavaliers closed the half with a 10-2 spurt, highlighted by a Kristen London layup with five seconds left in the half, to cut the lead to 17 (42-25). Duke scored 20 of its 42 first-half points off 14 Virginia turnovers.
The Cavaliers never got any closer than 18 points at the 4:32 mark in the second half.
For the game, Virginia shot 20-of-55 from the field for 36 percent while Duke was 28-of-50 for 56 percent. Duke’s Chante Black and Joy Cheek both finished with 12 points in addition to Waner’s 16.
Virgina out-rebounded the Blue Devils 30-28 and both teams finished with 19 turnovers.
The Cavaliers now await a bid to the NCAA Tournament which is scheduled to be announced Monday, March 16.