Virginia Falls 63-55 at No. 17 Florida State
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (10-14, 5-8 ACC) suffered a 63-55 loss at No. 17 Florida State (20-4, 9-4 ACC) on Sunday (Feb. 9) at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla.
Virginia used a 9-0 run at the start of the second quarter to erase an early eight-point deficit, but the Seminoles went into halftime having built back up a 33-25 lead. Florida State led by double-digits again in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers narrowed the gap back down to four points in the final minute, but couldn’t complete a second comeback.
Senior guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) scored 19 points to lead the Cavaliers. Freshman guard Shemera Williams (Milwaukee, Wisc.) scored 12 points with four rebounds and four assists. Kiah Gillespie scored 22 points with eight rebounds. Morgan Jones had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the first quarter, the Seminoles slowly built up an 18-10 advantage. The Cavaliers started chipping away at the start of the second quarter, using two trips to the free throw line to narrow the gap to five. Back-to-back layups from Williams made it a one-point game. A layup from freshman guard Carole Miller (Alexandria, Va.) completed the comeback, giving UVA a 19-18 lead with 5:21 remaining in the half. The two teams kept pace through the middle of the period until a three-pointer from FSU’s Nicki Ekhomu pulled her squad out to a 29-23 lead. Florida State went into the break leading 33-25.
Florida State took its first double-digit lead of the game with 6:35 remaining in the third, but UVA kept chipping away, with a three-pointer from Williams narrowing the gap to 39-34 with 2:24 remaining in the period. Virginia made three free throws in the final 49 seconds of the frame made it a four-point game, 41-37, heading into the fourth quarter. The Seminoles took advantage of four-straight missed baskets by the Cavaliers to build back up a 10-point lead, 51-41 midway through the fourth, but a jumper from senior guard Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) followed by a three-pointer from redshirt freshman guard Amandine Toi (Paris, France) cut the deficit back to five, 51-46, with 4:24 remaining. A layup from senior forward Lisa Jablonowski (Ernster, Luxembourg) once again made the deficit five points with 1:52 remaining. A layup from Williams with 42.3 seconds remaining made it a 56-52 game. Gillespie scored a layup on the ensuing possession to put Florida State back up six. The Seminoles went 5-of-6 from the line in the final minute to build back up a double-digit lead, but Willoughby hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to get it to the final eight-point deficit.
FROM HEAD COACH TINA THOMPSON
“Our runs, especially the one in the fourth quarter, came from us getting stops. That is what we talked about, getting stops. We got it down to five points about halfway through the fourth, but the first quarter is what hurt us. We built up that deficit in the first quarter, digging ourselves a hole and it was just tough to climb out of it. Offensive rebounds were a big factor. They don’t shoot particularly well from the outside, but they got a lot of second-chance points, which hurt us. We went into a two-three zone to force those outside shots but needed to do better on the boards.”
NOTES
- Virginia shot 36.8 percent (21-of-57) while Florida State shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59)
- Florida State held a 41-30 rebounding edge
- FSU scored 15 second-chance points. UVA had three
- Florida State went 0-of-9 from the field to start the second quarter, going 6:04 without scoring from the end of the first quarter to the 5:00 mark of the second
- Florida State went 5-of-6 from the field late in the second quarter to build up a then 33-25 advantage
- Jocelyn Willoughby went 7-of-14 from the field after starting the game 3-of-3
- Lisa Jablonowski scored nine points, going 4-of-6 from the field
- Dominique Toussaint scored eight points
- Kiah Gillespie scored 9 points in the first six minutes of the game and had 15 points at halftime
ON THE HORIZON
- Virginia returns home to host Miami on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m., the first of three remaining home games for the Cavaliers this season
- Virginia has a bye over the weekend before playing back-to-back road games at Duke (Feb. 20) and Virginia Tech (23)
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