Virginia Edges Wake Forest 60-57 in Overtime
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Feb. 12, 2017
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (16-9, 5-7 ACC) picked up a 60-57 overtime victory against Wake Forest (14-11, 5-7 ACC) on Sunday, (Feb. 12) at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.
Freshman guard Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored 12 of Virginia’s 16 points in overtime, including hitting a pair of threes and making two free throws with 12 seconds remaining that sealed the victory for the Cavaliers.
Virginia outscored Wake 26-13 in the first half, but the Demon Deacons came out strong after the break, outscoring UVA 18-7 in the third quarter and tying up the game, 41-41, with 4:05 remaining in the fourth. The game was tied at 46 with 53 seconds remaining. Both teams had a chance to win in regulation, but both teams missed a pair of field goal attempts down the stretch that sent the game into overtime.
“I’m obviously happy to just come out with a win,” said Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle. “It seems like every time we play Wake Forest it’s a battle like this. We’ve been fortunate to come out on this side of it a couple of times. I thought it was a great game by both teams and just a lot of grit. At different times, different people were stepping up. In the first half of the game, [J’Kyra Brown] gave us a lot of scoring. Then there was a point when it was Lauren [Moses] and then Jocelyn [Willoughby], and then [Dominique Toussaint]. We were able to go to multiple people’s numbers tonight for scoring. It was good because you want to want to keep them guessing a little bit about what we’re going to do.”
Toussaint had a season-high 19 points, including going 2-of-2 from three-point range and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Junior guard J’Kyra Brown (Rocky Mount, N.C.) scored 17 points, including making four three-pointers in the first half.
Ariel Stephenson led Wake Forest with 21 points, while also dishing out four assists. Elisa Penna scored 10 points with eight rebounds.
Brown checked into the game three minutes into the first quarter, scoring the first five points for the Cavaliers, including hitting her first three-pointer in her first 15 seconds on the court. Toussaint ended a span of nearly four minutes in which neither team hit a field goal by converting an and-one with 35.6 seconds left in the opening quarter, giving UVA a 12-5 advantage.
Brown hit a pair of threes early in the second quarter to give UVA an 18-11 advantage. Back-to-back layups from Toussaint and freshman guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) gave the Cavaliers their first double-digit lead, 23-13. Brown drained her fourth three of the half with 21 seconds remaining to send the Cavaliers into the break with a 26-13 lead. Brown scored seven of the Cavaliers’ first nine points and 16 of the 26 points they tallied in the first half.
Freshman forward Lisa Jablonowski (Ernster, Luxembourg), who made her first career start, opened up the second half with a three-pointer, but Wake chipped away at the deficit with back-to-back three-pointers from Stephenson making it a six-point game, 33-27, with 3:37 remaining in the third. Wake added another four points to end the quarter on a 10-0 run, trailing by just two, 33-31.
Wake tied the game on a fastbreak layup from Amber Campbell with 9:23 remaining in the game. Toussaint scored a layup on the opposite end to put UVA back up by two, the start of a 6-0 run. Wake tied the game again at 41 and then took a 43-42 lead with 2:33 remaining. Moses put UVA back up 45-44 after grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring the putback. The Cavaliers forced a turnover and added another point on a Willoughby free throw to lead 46-44 going into the final minute. After a pair of Wake free throws, the game was tied 46-46. Both teams had chances in the final 53 seconds with the Cavaliers missing two shots before the Deacons rebounded the ball with 9.3 seconds remaining. On the opposite end, Wake took two shots in its final possession, missing both, to send the game into overtime.
Toussaint swung the momentum in the Cavaliers’ favor in the extra period when she hit a three-pointer and then grabbed a steal on the ensuing possession, racing down the court for a fastbreak layup to score five points in a 20-second span. The Demon Deacons tied the game on a jumper from Amber Campbell with 1:42 remaining. Senior guard Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) hit a jumper to give UVA the edge. After the two teams traded three-pointers, Virginia held a one-point lead, 58-57, with 12 seconds remaining. Toussaint was immediately fouled and sent to the line, making both attempts. Stephenson took a three-point shot with two seconds remaining to try to send the game to double overtime, but the shot was off the rim and rebounded by Toussaint to end the game.
Virginia shot 32.3 percent (20-of-62) while Wake Forest went 20-of-59 (33.9 percent). Both teams also struggled at the free throw line with UVA going 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) and Wake 12-of-18 (66.7 percent). Virginia had a 43-42 edge in rebounding.
Virginia will be home again on Thursday, Feb. 16, hosting No. 6 Florida State 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).