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Feb. 7, 2016

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (13-11, 3-7 ACC) suffered a 66-46 loss to Virginia Tech (15-8, 3-7 ACC) on Sunday (Feb. 7) at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.

The Cavaliers had won 18-straight match-ups against the Hokies. Virginia Tech’s last victory in the series was Jan. 22, 2007.

The Cavaliers trailed by three points after the first quarter and ended the first half on a 6-0 run to trail by just two, 28-26, at the break, but the Hokies built up a double-digit lead in the third quarter and put the game away by outscoring the Cavaliers 21-8 in the final period.

Virginia shot just 28.6 percent overall, going 16-of-56, including making just one three-pointer on 12 attempts. The Hokies connected on 42.6 percent of their shots (20-of-47). Virginia Tech also held a 42-29 advantage in rebounding.

“It is obvious that we are struggling and we are just trying to figure it out,” said Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle. “We looked very fatigued out there. We just had little spurts where we played well. We had little spurts in the second quarter and the third quarter but not enough to sustain momentum. It goes back to trying to find that balance of trying to play continuity offenses and putting ourselves in a position to get an easy touch. We weren’t finishing well.”

Virginia Tech’s Sidney Cook scored 23 points with 14 rebounds.

Junior Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) led the Cavaliers with 14 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Lauren Moses (Mount Holly, N.J.) scored 13 points and also had seven rebounds.

The Virginia-Virginia Tech game is part of the Commonwealth Clash presented by Virginia529, which is a head-to-head, points-based competition between the athletic teams of the Cavaliers and Hokies. The Commonwealth Clash encourages a friendly, statewide rivalry between the two schools across all school-sponsored sports with 21 individual event points on the line. The school that accumulates 11 points or more will be crowned the winner and take home the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash trophy. The UVA-VT game is worth a half point in the Clash. The Clash is now tied at 3.5 points apiece. UVA claimed the inaugural Commonwealth Clash 15-7 last season.

Freshman Moné Jones (Durham, N.C.) took advantage of her first career start, scoring the first basket of the game. Virginia started the game hot, making five of its first nine baskets. The Hokies had an equally hot start, especially Cook, who scored eight of Tech’s first 11 points. Both teams shot 50 percent in the first quarter.

Both teams struggled in the second quarter, combining for one made field goal in the first five minutes of the period. Virginia started the second quarter going 1-of-12 shooting as Virginia Tech built up a seven-point lead, 27-20. UVA scored four points in the final 24 seconds of the period to go into the locker room down two.

Moses started off the second half by drawing a foul and heading to the free throw line to tie the game 13 seconds into the third quarter, but Tech mounted a 10-2 run to go up 38-30. The Hokies had their first double-digit lead, 43-32, after Hannah Young connected on a three-pointer with 3:08 remaining. Virginia went on a 6-0 run at the end of the third, including back-to-back baskets from sophomore Aliyah Huland El (Randolph, N.J.), to trail 45-38.

The Hokies only made four field goals in the fourth quarter but were 12-of-13 from the free throw line to put the game out of reach. Virginia could not find an offensive spark, going 3-of-16 from the field in the final 10 minutes of the game.

The Cavaliers close out their current homestand when they host Syracuse on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.

Single-game ticket prices for all home games are $10 for Reserved seating, $8 for adult General Admission and $6 for youth (18 & under), senior (60 & over) and UVA faculty/staff General Admission. Fans may purchase home game tickets through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office online at VirginiaSports.com, by phone and in person. The Virginia Athletics Ticket Office is located in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium and open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Telephone purchases can be made by calling 1-800-542-UVA1 (8821) or locally at 434-924-UVA1 (8821).

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