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No. 12 Virginia Cruises Past USC Upstate, 110-63
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CHARLOTTESVILLE – Sophomore Chelsea Shine (Wayne, Pa.) led three Cavalier double-digit scorers with a career-high 27 points and the Virginia women’s basketball team defeated USC Upstate, 110-63, Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena.
Shine finished 10-for-13 from the field and also registered her first career double-double with 11 rebounds. Monica Wright (Woodbridge, Va.) and Simone Egwu (Odenton, Md.) added 19 points apiece to lead the all-around effort from the Cavaliers.
Virginia broke the 100-point barrier for the 33rd time in school history, improving to 33-0 all-time in those games. The 110 points scored ties for the sixth-best mark ever and was the highest point total since a 116-63 victory over St. Francis in 2000.
Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan, now in her 33rd season, coached her 1,000th game on the sidelines after notching career win No. 700 in the season-opener on Nov. 13 at UMBC. Her career record now stands at 702-298.
“I was hoping that we would come in to this game and focus on the task at hand,” Ryan said. “I did not want us thinking about the future or the past, I just wanted us to stay with USC Upstate. I thought our team did a good job of focusing.”
Virginia (3-0) jumped out to an early lead, out-scoring the Spartans, 27-12, through the first nine minutes of the contest. That 15-point lead was whittled down to single-digits at the 8:26 mark, 29-21, on a 3-pointer by USC Upstate’s Lesley Daniel. The Cavaliers responded with a 9-0 run however, and built their lead to 17 points, 38-21, with 5:47 left to play in the half. Virginia maintained that comfortable lead and took a 54-38 lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Cavaliers kept up the pressure and the lead ballooned to 47 with two minutes left in the game and UVa ended up with a 110-63 victory.
Egwu had seven rebounds to go with her 19 points, while Wright added five rebounds, five assists and six steals in addition to her 19 points.
Whitny Edwards (Charlotte, N.C.) chipped in nine points and nine rebounds, while Ariana Moorer (Woodbridge, Va.) had nine points and eight boards.
USC Upstate (2-1) was led by Chelsea McMillan with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Cavaliers host Tennessee Sunday at 4 p.m. on Hot Dog Day. General Admission tickets are still available for the Virginia vs. Tennessee women’s basketball game on Nov. 22 at 4 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena. In an effort to set a new UVa single-game attendance record, the contest between the Cavaliers and Lady Vols is Hot Dog Day and every fan in attendance will receive a coupon for a free Gwaltney hot dog and a 12-ounce Pepsi.