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Box Score Feb. 11, 2016

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (13-12, 3-8 ACC) fell 91-57 to RV/No. 22 Syracuse (19-6, 9-3 ACC) on Thursday (Feb. 11) at John Paul Jones Arena, the sixth-straight loss for the Cavaliers.

Syracuse went 12-of-22 (54.5 percent) from three-point range as well as shooting 52.5 percent overall, while the Cavaliers shot 37.3 percent overall and were 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from long range. Virginia struggled with the Orange’s pressure defense as Syracuse scored 31 points off 23 Virginia turnovers.

“We got down pretty quickly and that hole kept getting bigger and bigger,” said Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle. “Syracuse does a great job of pressing teams for 40 minutes. Like any other team, we turned it over. They were able to capitalize. I don’t think we did a particularly good job defending. They really came at us in every way tonight.”

Brianna Butler led Syracuse with 23 points, all scored in the first 15 minutes of the game, going 6-of-8 from three-point range.

UVA had three players finish in double figures with sophomore Mikayla Venson (Arlington, Va.) scoring 16 points, sophomore Aliyah Huland El (Randolph, N.J.) contributing 15 and junior Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) adding 12. Huland El also had a team-high six rebounds.

Syracuse came out of the gates on fire, going up 7-0 in the first 55 seconds of the game. Early threes from Venson and Mason made it a 10-6 game with 7:30 remaining in the first period, but the Orange outscored the Cavaliers 18-7 in the remainder of the quarter. Syracuse expanded its lead to 23, 46-23, on Butler’s sixth three of the game with 4:55 remaining in the half. The two teams traded baskets down the stretch but a three from Alexis Peterson with 11 seconds remaining gave the Orange a 57-30 lead at the break.

Syracuse scored the first six points of the second half to extend the lead to 33, 63-30, before an and-one from Venson halted the run. A jumper at the buzzer from Mason cut the deficit to 71-43 heading into the final quarter. The Orange extended the lead to 37 points with just over a minute to play, but redshirt sophomore J’Kyra Brown (Rocky Mount, N.C.) hit a three-pointer in the final 30 seconds of the game to make the final 91-57.

“They are an up-tempo team and we made the mistake of letting them set the tempo,” Huland El said. “In practice we really worked hard to execute against the press and we knew that they were going to press, so it wasn’t a surprise. We just weren’t strong with the ball and we turned it over too much.”

Virginia will play at Boston College on Sunday, February 14 at 5 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on the ACC Regional Sports Networks before heading to No. 12 Louisville for a Thursday, Feb. 18 contest. The Cavaliers return home to host Clemson on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 1 p.m.

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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