Virginia Falls at Florida State, 69-51

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (0-5, 0-2 ACC) suffered a 69-51 loss at Florida State (2-0, 1-0 ACC) on Sunday (Dec. 13) at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, Fla.

Florida State broke open a game that was tied at halftime, 28-28, with a 26-3 run in the second half, including scoring the first 15 points of the fourth quarter, to pick up the victory on its home court.

For the third-straight game, redshirt sophomore guard Amandine Toi (Paris, France) led the team in scoring, putting up 18 points against the Seminoles, including making five three-pointers. Florida State had four players finish in double figures, led by Valencia Myers with 14 points. Myers tied FSU’s single-game record for blocked shots with nine. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Florida State scored the first seven points of the game and took an early 11-4 lead, but back-to-back threes from Toi and freshman guard Aaliyah Pitts (Suitland, Md.) narrowed the gap to one. FSU pushed back out to a 15-10, but the Cavaliers answered with a 10-3 run spanning the final minute of the first quarter through the first three minutes of the second. Freshman forward Deja Bristol (Upper Marlboro, Md.) contributed five of those points, including knotting the game at 15 with a free-throw line jumper before sophomore guard Carole Miller (Alexandria, Va.) gave UVA an 18-15 advantage with 7:07 left in the half. Toi hit a three-pointer with 5:23 left to build up the Cavaliers’ largest lead, 23-18. After FSU regained the lead, Miller sank a three-pointer with 1:16 remaining to temporarily put UVA back ahead. FSU knotted the game at 28 right before the half.

Toi’s third trey of the game and a jumper from graduate student Emily Maupin (Charlottesville, Va.) gave UVA a 33-30 lead with 6:43 remaining in the third quarter. Twenty seconds later, Valencia Myers hit a jumper for FSU, the start of an 8-0 run that put the Seminoles ahead 38-33 with 4:31 remaining in the period. Toi’s fourth three-pointer put an end to the run, but not the momentum. A three-pointer from Kourtney Weber ignited an 11-3 run to end the quarter. Florida State scored the first 15 points of the fourth quarter to build up a 64-39 lead with 6:08 remaining. A three-pointer from freshman guard Kaydan Lawson (Cleveland, Ohio) ended the streak and began a string of eight-straight points for UVA, including Toi’s fifth three-pointer of the game. FSU built back up a 20-point lead before a jumper by Bristol in the final 10 seconds narrowed the gap to 18.

FROM HEAD COACH TINA THOMPSON

“I thought in the first half we came out strong, we defended well, we also executed. In that second half, there were moments where I could tell we were a little tired, but we continued to fight. I’m proud of this team. I’m proud of how they show up every single day ready to work, even with our numbers being low, making no excuses.”

NOTES

• Virginia shot 30.9 percent (17-of-55) while FSU shot 47.2 percent (25-of-53)
• Florida State held a 39-25 edge in rebounding
• The Seminoles tallied 11 blocked shots
• There were six lead changes and three ties in the game. UVA led for 9:41
• Deja Bristol drew three charges in the first half. She finished the game with seven points and a team-high five rebounds
• Amandine Toi started the game going 4-of-4 from three-point range. She finished the game going 5-of-9 from three-point range, and 6-of-15 overall
• Kaydan Lawson scored 10 points with four rebounds and four assists

ON THE HORIZON

• Virginia has one road game remaining on the schedule before breaking for the holidays, playing at Virginia Tech next Sunday (Dec. 20), airing on the ACC Network
• The Cavaliers return to John Paul Jones Arena on Sunday, Jan. 3 to host No. 2 Louisville