Virginia Closes California Road Trip with a 72-47 Win at CSUN

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NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (2-1, 0-0 ACC) closed out its California road trip with a 72-47 victory at CSUN (0-3, 0-0 Big West) on Tuesday (Nov. 12) at Matador Arena in Northridge, Calif.
 
Virginia went on a 21-0 second-half run to break open a once one-point game. Senior guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) led the team with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Senior guard Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored 12 points, going 5-of-8 from the field, with seven assists and six rebounds. Freshman guard Kylie Kornegay-Lucas (Camden, Del.) had a team-high nine rebounds, while scoring eight points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Five-straight points from Toussaint pushed Virginia out to its first significant lead of the game, 12-7. Another Toussaint layup with 9.8 seconds left in the period to put the Cavaliers ahead 16-11. Back-to-back threes from Toussaint and Willoughby extended the Cavaliers advantage to 24-13 with 3:45 remaining in the first half. CSUN’s Lauren Shymkewicz scored the final four points of the half to narrow UVA’s lead to 24-17 at the break.
 
In the third quarter, CSUN went on an 8-0 run to narrow the gap to just one, 26-25, with 7:08 remaining in the period, but a three-pointer from Willoughby, on a feed from Toussaint, kept the Cavaliers ahead. Virginia found its stroke in the period, going 10-of-13 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range to build back up a 50-37 lead. The Cavaliers ended the quarter on a 7-0 run and picked things right back up at the start of the fourth quarter with Willoughby free throws followed in shortly thereafter by a layup from senior forward Lisa Jablonowski (Ernster, Luxembourg). A three from redshirt freshman guard Amandine Toi (Paris France) pushed the Cavalier advantage to 20 points, 57-37, with 7:06 remaining. The Cavaliers added seven more points to make it a 14-0 run to start the quarter and a 21-0 overall run, going up 64-37 with 4:31 remaining in the game.
 
FROM HEAD COACH TINA THOMPSON
“Our defense won this game for us today. We made shots, but they were created by the defense. We felt they [CSUN] were getting tired, so we continued to push and then pressure defensively. One of the things we talked about at halftime was not turning over the ball. It is one thing when the defense forces something you don’t want to do, but we were just giving the ball away. We’d rather have looks at the basket.
“Against USC, I felt we were really rushing, so that was something we talked about in the last couple of days. Because when our shooters can get their feet set, we can make those shots more times than not.”
 
“[Dominique Toussaint] got off to a great start. She shot the ball well, especially from the outside. Jocelyn, she is steady. She just does what she does every single game and contributes in a big way for us. Carole Miller is one of those players where a lot of the things that she does doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, but when she’s in the open floor, she’s pretty tough to guard. Once she gets a head of steam, she makes good stuff happen.”

NOTES

• CSUN was held scoreless for 7:21 during Virginia’s 21-0 run, going 0-for-12 from the field in that span
• Virginia finished the game shooting 48.1 percent overall and 47.4 percent from three-point range. UVA shot 36.0 percent in the first half (9-of-25) and 58.6 percent in the second half (17-of-29)
• CSUN shot 27.1 percent (16-of-59) and went 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) from three-point range, after going 1-of-13 from long range in the first half
• Virginia held a 40-34 edge in rebounding
• Virginia scored 24 points off 18 CSUN turnovers
• Virginia had four players finish in double figures. In addition to Willoughby (19) and Toussaint (12), redshirt freshman guard Amandine Toi (Paris, France) scored 12 points and freshman guard Carole Miller (Alexandria, Va.) scored 10
• Toussaint scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half
• Toi scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half
• Kornegay-Lucas had five rebounds in her first seven minutes of play
• Virginia never trailed in the game

 
ON THE HORIZON

• Virginia returns home to host No. 13 Kentucky (2-0, 0-0 SEC) on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 5 p.m. The Virginia men’s basketball team also plays that day at John Paul Jones Arena, with the men tipping against Columbia at noon
• There will be free admission to the women’s game with a ticket from the men’s game against Columbia

 
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