Virginia Falls 62-56 at Wake Forest
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (7-10, 2-4 ACC) dropped a road contest at Wake Forest (11-6, 4-2 ACC) on Thursday (Jan. 16), falling 62-56 to the Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest built up a 16-point lead in the first half, but the Cavaliers chipped away, pulling to within three points in the final three minutes of the game, but the Demon Deacons fended off the comeback bid and held on for the victory.
Senior guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) scored 20 points to lead the Cavaliers. Wake Forest had two players with 20-point games, Gina Conti with 21 points and Ivana Raca with 20.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cavaliers ended an 0-of-8 shooting slump to start the game when Willoughby scored their first field goal with 3:22 remaining in the first quarter. Wake Forest built up an 18-7 lead in the opening period, but the Cavaliers countered by scoring the first five points of the second quarter, cutting the deficit down to 18-12 on a Willoughby layup at 8:27. The Demon Deacons went on a 12-2 run, taking a 30-14 lead on a three-pointer from Raca. Willoughby hit a jumper with 2:40 remaining in the half to start an 8-0 UVA run which was capped by a wide-open layup from redshirt freshman guard Amandine Toi (Paris, France) with 45 second remaining, cutting the deficit in half, 30-22. Raca hit a three-pointer with 11.6 second remaining to push Wake Forest’s advantage back to double digits at halftime, 33-22.
In the third quarter, the Deacons held a 12-point advantage with four minutes left in the period, but the Cavaliers began to chip away, with a three-pointer from freshman guard Shemera Williams (Milwaukee, Wisc.) cutting the deficit to seven. A layup from senior forward Lisa Jablonowski (Ernster, Luxembourg) to start the fourth quarter made it a five-point game, but a three-pointer from Conti built the deficit back to 10 points with five minutes remaining in the game. The Cavaliers again chipped away, this time getting to within three, 53-50, on a three-pointer from senior guard Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) with 3:04 remaining. Wake Forest scored on its next three possessions, but an and-one from Toussaint with 48 seconds remaining made it a six-point game, 59-53. After a pair of free throws on the opposite end, Willoughby hit a three-pointer to make it a five-point game, but the Demon Deacons held on for the victory.
FROM HEAD COACH TINA THOMPSON
“That first quarter gave us too deep of a hole, especially having to try to dig out of it on the road. Even though we continued to dig at it and fought through, it was a little too much to overcome. It was our intention in the game knowing that anytime we would run and attack the basket, it would be a tough guard for them. In the first half, they had 12 offensive rebounds. Twenty-five overall rebounds and 12 of them were offensive. That is hard for anyone to overcome. We didn’t box out and limit them to one shot so we could rebound and get into transition.”
NOTES
- Virginia shot 37.3 percent (22-of-59) while Wake Forest shot 38.5 percent (20-of-52)
- Wake Forest held a 45-26 advantage in rebounding
- Wake Forest was 16-of-17 from the free throw line, Virginia went 9-of-14
- UVA scored 16 points on the fast break. Wake had seven
- Virginia had three players finish the game in double figures. In addition to Willoughby, Shemera Williams scored 11 points and Dominique Toussaint had 10
- Lisa Jablonowski grabbed 11 rebounds. She also scored nine points
ON THE HORIZON
- Virginia returns home on Sunday, Jan. 19 to host Virginia Tech in a Commonwealth Clash game at 3 p.m.
- Sunday’s game is also the celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day. There will be a pregame sports festival on the upper concourse of JPJ beginning at 1:30. The festival will include sports stations for youth eighth grade and under to visit. Those completing all of the sports stations will receive a complimentary t-shirt. There will also be face painting, balloon artist, pop-a-shot, Plinko and a chance to meet Virginia student-athletes. Doors to the arena open at 1:30, 30 minutes earlier than normal. The sports festival is free with admission to the game
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