UVa Comes Up Short at No. 19 Florida State, 61-51

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Virginia fell on the road at No. 19 Florida State, 61-51, Sunday afternoon. Junior Ariana Moorer (Woodbridge, Va.) scored 12 points and dished out five assists to lead Virginia, while freshman Ataira Franklin (Bowie, Md.) added 11 points, four rebounds and two steals.

“I think our team played as hard as we could possibly play, our shots just didn’t fall,” UVa head coach Debbie Ryan said. “I was proud of our effort today.”

With the loss, Virginia’s record went to 10-7 overall and 0-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Florida State improved to 14-3 overall and 2-0 in league play.

The Seminoles led by 10 points on two occasions in the first half at 24-14 and 25-15. UVa was held to its lowest first-half point total of the season and FSU led, 27-19, at halftime.

The Cavaliers cut the lead to five points with an old-fashioned 3-point play by Paulisha Kellum (Upper Marlboro, Md.) with 16:31 left, but that would be the closest Virginia would get in the second half.

Leading by seven and trying to hold off a Cavalier comeback, Seminole guard Courtney Ward drained a key 3-pointer with 4:26 left in the game that extended the Florida State lead to 10 points, 47-37, and essentially sealed the victory for FSU.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Moorer and Lexie Gerson (Fort Washington, Pa.) were not enough late in the game and the Seminoles came away with the 61-51 win.

Ward finished with 14 points for Florida State, while Chelsea Davis was the Seminoles’ leading scorer with 18 points – a new career-high for her.

For Virginia, Simone Egwu (Odenton, Md.) pulled down eight rebounds and China Crosby (New York, N.Y) scored a season-high eight points. Kellum finished with five points for UVa.

The contest vs. FSU was the first of two-straight ACC road games for Virginia, as it heads to Georgia Tech on Thursday, Jan. 13.