Women’s Basketball: Virginia Falls at Wake Forest, 68-53

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia women’s basketball team (3-20, 0-13 ACC) suffered a 68-53 loss at Wake Forest (13-12, 3-11 ACC) on Sunday (Feb.13) at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Cavaliers and Demon Deacons had five ties and four lead changes before Wake Forest took control of the game in the fourth quarter, opening the period on a 12-3 run to build up a double-digit advantage and holding on for the win.

Sophomore guard Mir McLean had her first career double double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Junior forward London Clarkson also tallied 11 points with seven rebounds. Junior guard Taylor Valladay finished with 10 points with four rebounds and four assists.

Jewel Spear led Wake Forest with 17 points, one of four Wake Forest players to finish in double figures.

In the first quarter, grad student center Eleah Parker tied the game 6-6, but back-to-back threes from the Demon Deacons gave the team a 12-6 lead. Wake Forest was 3-of-4 from three-point range in the quarter as they built up a 21-12 advantage at the end of the period.

A three-pointer from junior guard Carole Miller cut a once double-digit deficit to five with 3:49 left in the second quarter. Wake answered with a 6-0 run to go ahead 36-25 with  2:02 remaining in the half. Junior guard Taylor Valladay scored the final four points of the half to make it a seven-point deficit, 36-29, at the break.

Virginia began to chip away early in the third quarter on a layup from Miller, again making it a five-point game. A jumper from McLean made it 36-33. The Cavaliers then went to the line, making five free throws in a two-minute span to cap a 9-0 run and take a 38-36 lead. Wake Forest scored its first points of the period with 5:03 remaining, also from the free throw line. Wake went back ahead by two on a jumper with 4:26 remaining, but a layup from Valladay and a three-pointer by grad student guard Amandine Toi put UVA back ahead. Wake Forest ended the period on a 6-0 run to lead 48-45 heading into the fourth.

Wake Forest went 5-of-5 shooting early in the fourth quarter, building up a 10-point lead, 58-48, after Elise Williams converted a layup at the shot clock buzzer followed by a three-pointer from Spear. The Cavaliers did not make a field goal the final 3:24 of the game and were 1-of-8 from the field for the final seven minutes of the contest.

UVA head coach Tina Thompson

“It seems like there’s always one quarter in each game where it’s a deciding factor for us. I know, I’m repetitive. I sound like a broken record but we have to finish. We have to be disciplined and we have to continue to execute. I mean, the things that we are doing when we’re at our best in the game are what is necessary in order for us to put ourselves in a position to win. We just haven’t found a way to do that from start to finish.”

On the fourth quarter breakdown: “It was a couple things. Defensive assignments. There were a lot of miscues in that area. And then also our execution. We kind of start relying on our own knowing instead of using our offense and our plays to create opportunities.”