Cavs get relief with ACC win

In Clemson, S.C., Virginia had three players score in double figures and answered every Clemson scoring run to register a 75-67 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Lyndra Littles paced the attack for the 19th-ranked Cavaliers (16-4, 3-2 ACC) with 22 points and seven rebounds. Monica Wright and Aisha Mohammed added 19 and 17 points, respectively, in the victory.
The win came at a good time for Virginia, which had lost two of its past three games. It also moved the Cavaliers into a tie for fifth place in the ACC with North Carolina.
“We needed this one,” Littles said. “I am relieved because I know now that we can go into practice and know that we won a game. It will be a hard practice, but a good practice.”
“Knowing that we didn’t lose it is important because sometimes after a game Coach [Debbie] Ryan just has that look because we lost. It is hard to explain but it is not a good look.” 
Virginia took a 57-43 lead on a layup by Littles with 11:43 left in the game, but Clemson (12-9, 2-5 ACC) mounted a run behind three straight 3-pointers from guard Kirstyn Wright that cut the Tigers’ deficit to just five at 57-52.
The Tigers trimmed the deficit later in the half to
69-63 with 2:32 remaining on a jumper by Lele Hardy, but UVa made sure they did not get closer, hitting six free throws in the final two minutes of the contest.
“That was one of the big things that we kept harping on in the huddles,” Littles said. “We just kept saying, ‘shut the door. Don’t let them back in this game.’
“We didn’t do that against Florida State [on Friday], but I think we did a good job of making sure that we did not let them back in the game tonight.”
For the game, Virginia shot just 37.3 percent from the field (25 of 67), but connected on 22 of its 27 free throws and dominated Clemson 49-35 in rebounding. The Cavaliers, who got 11 rebounds from Mohammed, used their advantage in the post to score 36 points in the paint and register 18 second-chance points.
The Cavaliers also found a new contributor in the victory. After impressing the coaching staff in practice with her defensive effort, senior Kristen London logged 18 minutes, scored five points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists.
Oddly enough, London had appeared in just eight of the Cavaliers’ first 19 games.
“I told the players that the ones that played defense in practice were going to be the ones that played in games and I think we discovered a player tonight on the defensive end and that was Kristen London,” Ryan said. “I thought she played well within herself tonight. She did not try to impress anybody. She just came in and was very solid. Kristen is all about energy.”
Littles added: “I was so proud of Kristen. I think Kristen came in and played with great poise and she did what she was asked to do. They asked her to come in and play defense and I think she did a good job with that.”
Clemson, which registered league wins over Miami and Wake Forest, had scorers in double figures, including a 17-point effort from Hardy.
Virginia will open a four-game homestand on Friday against No. 8 Maryland at 7 p.m.