Virginia’s Season Comes to an End in the ACC Tournament Second Round
Seniors Jocelyn Willoughby and Lisa Jablonowski both had double-doubles in their final game. Dominique Toussaint also scored 12 points
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GREENSBORO, N.C.. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (13-17, 8-10 ACC) had its season come to an end with a 67-50 loss to Syracuse (16-14, 10-9 ACC) in the second round of the 2020 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament being held at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
The Cavaliers were led by its trio of seniors with both guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) and forward Lisa Jablonowski (Ernster, Luxembourg) posting double-doubles. Willoughby scored 13 points with 12 rebouds while Jablonowski had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) also capped her career with a double-digit scoring performance, contributing 12 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Amaya Finklea-Guity led a balanced attack with 15 points and eighth-seeded Syracuse pulled away from ninth-seeded Virginia in the fourth quarter for a 67-50 win.
Gabrielle Cooper and Emily Engstler added 13 points apiece, Kiara Lewis had 11 and Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi 10 off the bench for the Orange (16-15), who led 53-47 after three quarters.
Syracuse faces top-seeded and fourth-ranked Louisville in the second quarterfinal on Friday.
Djaldi-Tabdi opened the fourth with a pair of free throws and Digna Strautmane hit a 3-pointer to make it 58-47, the first double-figure lead of the game.
Willoughby hit a 3-pointer for the Cavaliers, who won the regular-season meeting 57-41, with 7:30 to play but Virginia never scored again. Syracuse closed the game with nine points and neither team scored in the final 3:17.
Virginia missed its final 15 shots and finished with 26 turnovers.
Willoughby had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Virginia (13-17), and Lisa Jablonowski added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Orange avenged a 16-point loss to the Cavaliers during the regular season.
FROM HEAD COACH TINA THOMPSON
“Well, it’s tough to lose like this, you know, especially with the heartfelt season that we had. We just weren’t ourselves and when you’re in the tournament, it’s not the time to not be yourselves. You have to come in kind of being your best selves and playing your best game, especially to have to win night after night after night and we just weren’t. We turned the ball over way too many times to be successful. Our effort was there but just did not turn into the positive intentions that we were wanting and hoping for.”
“Before we go I want to say how thankful that I am of these three and what they’ve done for helping us build the foundation of this program. They were committed when I came in last year to the work that was necessary in order for us to grow in a way to be successful going into their senior season. It’s tough that they didn’t get the outcome that they wanted but the work that they invested, their hearts into this program is definitely something and an example that we’re going to be able to build on. So I’m very thankful and grateful for these three for investing into us the way they did. I appreciate you guys and thanks.”
NOTES
- Jocelyn Willoughby had her 10th double-double of the season and the 24th of her career, which is tied for 11th-most in program history
- Willoughby finishes her career with 1,677 points, which ranks ninth in program history
- Willoughby finishes with 868 rebounds, ranking sixth in program history
- Dominique Toussaint finishes her career with 1,321 points, ranking her 20th in program history
- Toussaint finishes in the top-10 in career assists and made-threes, tied for ninth with 390 assists and tied for 10th with 131 treys
- Lisa Jablonowski finishes her career with 621 points and 535 rebounds