Virginia Falls 59-49 to USC
LOS ANGELES – The Virginia women’s basketball team (1-1, 0-0 ACC) suffered a 59-49 loss at Southern California (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) on Saturday (Nov. 9) at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
Senior forward Lisa Jablonowski (Ernster, Luxembourg) led the Cavaliers in scoring with 13 points while also grabbing nine rebounds. Freshman Carole Miller (Alexandria, Va.), in her first career start, also had nine rebounds and contributed nine points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both the Cavaliers and Trojans suffered through stretches of cold shooting. USC managed to push out to a 22-17 lead late in the first half, but a steal and a fastbreak layup from Jablonowski in the final seconds of the period narrowed the gap to 22-19 at the break. The Trojans built up a double-digit lead, 33-23, with 7:04 remaining in the third quarter, but back-to-back layups from Jablonowski narrowed the gap. The Cavaliers got to within four on a jumper from senior guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) with three minutes remaining in the third quarter, and were down five with 8:18 remaining in the game, but USC went on an 8-2 run to build their advantage back up to double-digits. Virginia trailed by seven, 56-49, with 48 seconds remaining, but the Women of Troy went 3-of-4 from the free throw line down the stretch to close out the game.
FROM HEAD COACH TINA THOMPSON
“Our timing was off. We could not get settled in. We were taking shots we would normally not take. We were rushing them a little bit. We just weren’t in our normal rhythm. We didn’t do a good job of capitalizing on our stops. Our effort was there, but we just had a tough time putting the ball in the basket.”
NOTES
- Head Coach Tina Thompson’s No. 14 jersey was retired by the school in a pregame ceremony. She was a USBWA All-American as a senior in 1997, the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 1994 and a three-time first team all-conference honoree
- UVA associate head coach Karleen Thompson is also a Women of Troy alumna and was a teammate of Tina Thompson at USC
- Virginia shot 26.0 percent from the field (19-of-73), 6.7 percent from three-point range (1-of-15) and 58.8 percent from the free throw line (10-of-17)
- USC shot 30.6 percent (19-of-62)
- Virginia held a 50-47 edge in rebounding
- USC blocked 13 shots, Virginia had two, both by redshirt sophomore forward Dani Lawson (Cleveland, Ohio)
- Willoughby scored 10 points, all in the second half
ON THE HORIZON
- The Cavaliers close out the West Coast road trip with a contest at CSUN (Cal State Northridge) on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. (ET)
- The game will stream live online and will have live stats available
- Virginia returns home to host Kentucky on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 5 p.m.
TICKET INFORMATION
- Reserved single-game tickets are $8 if purchased in advance or online and $10 if purchased at the JPJ Box Office. General admission tickets are $5 if purchased in advance or online and $8 if purchased at the JPJ Box Office. Single-game courtside tickets may be purchased for $15
- For more information or to purchase tickets, fans should contact the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-542-UVA1 (8821). Fans can also purchase tickets online at VirginiaSports.com or in-person at the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium