Virginia Downs Boston College, 62-55
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Box Score Jan. 15, 2017
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (12-5, 1-3 ACC) picked up a 62-55 victory over Boston College (8-10, 1-4 ACC) on Sunday (Jan. 15) at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.
The game was tied 40-40 at the end of the third quarter, but the Cavaliers edged out to a 56-49 lead with 1:14 on back-to-back layups from freshman guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) and junior forward Lauren Moses (Mount Holly, N.J.). The Cavaliers were 10-of-13 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory.
“I’m excited about the win,” said Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle. “I thought we had some good runs and finished out the game well. It’s nice to get in the win column. They’re never easy to come by, but it’s nice to get one and keep moving forward. We wanted to press a little bit and get after them. When you get more of those turnover opportunities, you get to take a deep breath and not rely consistently on half court offense.”
Mason scored 19 points to lead the Cavaliers, with 14 coming in the second half. Junior guard Aliyah Huland El (Randolph, N.J.) made her first five field goal attempts, scoring 12 of her points in the first 16 minutes of the game. Willoughby scored nine points with nine rebounds.
Mariella Fasoula led Boston College with 20 points and 11 rebounds, but also committed seven of BC’s 22 turnovers.
Virginia shot 36.7 percent (22-of-60) overall, but went 6-of-12 in the fourth quarter. Boston College shot 46.0 percent (23-of-50), but were just 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) from three-point range and made just one long-range shot in the second half. BC held a 37-35 advantage in rebounding.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Mason and freshman Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) gave Virginia an early 10-7 lead in the first quarter. The Cavaliers turned up the pressure in the second quarter, forcing the Eagles to turn the ball over in each of their first three possessions. The Cavaliers took advantage of the opportunities, scoring the first six points of the period to go up 18-12. Back-to-back threes from Willoughby and Huland El gave UVA its first double-digit lead, 24-14, with 5:14 remaining in the half. The Eagles rallied late in the quarter, converting their final five field goal attempts and rattling off an 11-1 run in the final 1:57 to cut the deficit to one, 29-28, at the break.
BC completed the comeback and took a 32-31 lead on a layup from Georgia Pineau 2:36 into the third quarter, the first of six lead changes in the period. The two teams headed to the fourth quarter tied at 40.
The fourth quarter started slowly for both teams as they combined to go 1-of-5 from the field with four turnovers in the first 3:30, but Virginia edged out to a 45-42 lead with six minutes remaining. After pulling within a point three times, BC finally erased the deficit, taking a 49-48 lead on a three from Kalley Edwards. Virginia got a momentum swing with 1:36 remaining when Willoughby grabbed a steal and raced down the court to convert the fastbreak layup. Willoughby was fouled on the shot and had a chance for an and-one, but missed the free throw, however the Cavaliers got the offensive rebound to maintain possession. Lauren Moses (Mount Holly, N.J.) picked up an offensive rebound after a miss from Toussaint and scored the put-back to put UVA up 56-49 with 1:14 remaining. Mason went 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory.
Virginia has back-to-back road games at Clemson and Pittsburgh on Jan. 19 and 22 before returning to John Paul Jones Arena on Thursday, Jan. 26 to host Virginia Tech.
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).