Cavs knock off ACC leaders
Associated Press
Florida State’s Jacinta Monroe (left) attempts to block the shot of Virginia’s Aisha Mohammed during the Cavaliers’ win.
In Tallahassee, Fla., for the second time this season, the Virginia women’s basketball team knocked off a ranked team on the road with a furious rally.
Virginia, down as many as 11 points in the first half, mounted a late charge to upend No. 11 Florida State 68-63 at the Tucker Center.
Thanks to second-half scoring flurry, the Cavaliers (22-7, 8-5 ACC) solidified their plans for the upcoming ACC tournament — No. 22 UVa inched closer to locking down the No. 5 seed in next week’s league event and secured a first-round date with the 11th- or 12th-seeded team (the Cavs will land the No. 5 seed with a win Sunday or a Georgia Tech loss on Thursday at Virginia Tech).
Earlier this season, Virginia mounted a comeback to beat then-No. 6 Tennessee.
“This win just shows that this team really has a lot of character. This team has a lot of poise,” said Virginia senior Lyndra Littles. “With this team, when it gets hard, we just have a will to win.”
The loss spoiled a celebration party for Florida State (23-6, 11-2). The Seminoles could have clinched a share of the league crown with a victory.
Virginia spoiled the party after halftime as Aisha Mohammed, Monica Wright and Lyndra Littles got on track offensively. For the game, the trio combined for 56 of Virginia’s points and 28 rebounds.
It was not until there was 3:27 left in the game, however, that the Cavaliers took the lead as point guard Ariana Moorer connected on a layup.
The team’s exchanged the lead until Littles collected an alley-oop pass from Wright and flipped an easy basket in, making it 61-60 with 1:29 left.
“It was a great pass from Moni,” Littles said.
Wright added a pivotal pull-up jumper with 44 seconds left, giving the Cavaliers a three-point cushion. Moorer and Littles combined for three free throws in the final minute to solidify the win.
Littles, who nailed all eight of her free throws, finished the game with a team-best 24 points and nine rebounds. Wright, despite missing 12 of 18 shots from the field, added 17 points.
The Cavaliers close out the regular season Sunday at Georgia Tech.
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Reader Reactions
I noticed FOX SPORTS NEWS has a pre-tournament seeding out for the NCAA women’s basketball championship games and they have UVA as a 6th seed. I believe if the lady Cavs beat Georgia Tech this weekend and do well in the ACC tournament they will be a 4th or 5th seed in the nationals. Granted, Fox Sports is simply issuing guesstimates but I feel they are selling our gals short.
Great finish by an outstanding Virginia team playing hard for a great Coach.Watched it live down here in Sarasota Florida.B.Cates
It did my heart good to see the Lady Cavs win at Tallahassee. Really, they should be 24-5 instead of 22-7 since there were 2 games they should not have lost. Anyway, with a win over Georgia Tech this Sunday they will be in fair shape going in to the tournament. Let’s hope they keep rolling.
Go Hoo’s! Great win. Fans may not of been in Tall. but we were glued to the TV!
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