Late push not enough, as UVA falls to Duke, 60-56

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia fell behind early and could not gain a lead as the Cavaliers fell to Duke, 60-56, Sunday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena. 

For the third consecutive game, Camryn Taylor led the Hoos with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting and knocked down seven free throws. Kymora Johnson also scored in double figures with 14 points, pulled down eight rebounds and added three steals. 

Duke shot 40 percent from the field, while the Cavaliers shot 30 percent. Both teams knocked down two 3-pointers each on a combined 38 attempts from beyond the arc. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Four early turnovers by the Cavaliers (8-6, 0-3 ACC) allowed Duke to leap out to an early 13-3 lead. Virginia settled in towards the back half of the first quarter and scored nine straight points to cut the Blue Devils’ lead back to one, 13-12.

The run was highlighted by five straight points from Sam Brunelle. Duke (10-5, 2-2) scored the last four points of the quarter to lead it, 17-12, heading into the second. In addition to Brunelle, London Clarkson and Taylor all picked up two early fouls in the opening period. 

The Cavaliers found themselves trailing by as many as nine points [29-20] with 3:00 to play in the second half, but scored six of the last seven points as Duke clung to a 30-26 lead at the break.

Taylor led all scorers at the half with eight points, including six in the second quarter, on 2-of-4 shooting and knocked down all four of her attempts at the charity stripe. UVA shot 21 percent in the second quarter, while the Blue Devils shot 46 percent. 

Taylor scored nine of her 17 total points in the third quarter as her and Johnson were the only two Cavaliers to find the bottom of the net in the third. An and-1 by Taylor trimmed Duke’s lead to 35-31 with 7:27 to go. Virginia’s shooting woes continued as the Hoos shot 33 percent in period No. 3, while Duke shot 50 percent. 

Jillian Brown drilled the Cavaliers’ second 3-pointer of the day from the corner, which made it a one-possession game [47-44] with 8:03 to play. However, Duke maintained at least a two-possession lead for the vast majority of the fourth quarter.

Johnson made a layup with three seconds left, but the Cavaliers had to foul immediately. Duke made both attempts at the line to effectively seal the win. 

FROM HEAD COACH AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON

“Obviously, we want to win. Everybody wants to win. I still think we’re going to win. We just have to fix some things. I think once we get everybody to be on the same page and come bring their A-game on the same day we’re going to be a pretty good team. That process is taking a little bit longer than we would like, but we’re going to turn the corner.

“I mean, today was a better showing than Georgia Tech. We grew in a lot of places, but at the same time we’re not growing fast enough. At this point, we’re in conference play so we all know we need to step it up. I know we can. We have got a lot of talent in that locker room. And I know we’re going to continue to get better.” 

NOTES 

• The Cavaliers held Duke to 2-of-18 (11 percent) from 3-point range, the lowest 3-point shooting percentage by a UVA opponent this season … The Blue Devils’ two made 3s also tied for UVA’s opponent low this season (2 by LSU). 
• For the third straight game Camryn Taylor led the Cavaliers in scoring with 17 points. 
• Taylor fouled out for the first time this season at the 5:25 mark of the fourth quarter. 
• Yonta Vaughn finished with six assists. 
• With the win, the Blue Devils improved to 43-35 in the all-time series with UVA, which began in 1977, and are winners of the last three head-to-head meetings. 
• Duke led for 39:26 of game time. 

UP NEXT

Virginia travels to NC State, which is currently ranked No. 3 in the most recent AP top-25 poll, on Thursday. Tipoff from Reynolds Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).