Ryan gets 700th win

In Baltimore, Md., Virginia women’s basketball coach Debbie Ryan added yet another exclamation point to her already-stellar Hall of Fame career as the Cavaliers pulled away late to beat Maryland-Baltimore County 68-57.

The season-opening victory, which required a second-half surge, gave Ryan her 700th career win. It made her the 12th coach to accomplish the feat.

“I’m proud for the University of Virginia and I’m proud for my players,” said Ryan, who stands at 700-298 overall. “Those wins belong to the players, the coaches who have coached with me, the administration and the University of Virginia.”

Virginia (1-0) struggled in the opening half, making just 14 of its 41 shots from the field (34.1 percent) and was tied 34-34 with UMBC (0-1).

The Cavaliers started to click in the second half, when preseason All-American Monica Wright scored all 15 of her points.

Wright, the ACC preseason player of the year, missed 14 of her 19 field goal attempts, but dished out three assists and grabbed seven rebounds.

While Wright was blanked in the opening half, rookie point guard China Crosby and sophomore forward Chelsea Shine combined for 15 points.

UMBC was the aggressor early and shot well from the field in the first half as Michelle Kurakowski scored 17 of her game-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

“UMBC came out with their guns loaded and I thought they had a good gameplan,” Ryan said. “When we were able to change the tempo of the game we were able to make a difference and get some separation.”

Shine and Whitny Edwards joined Wright in double figures for the Cavaliers, scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Virginia has little time to enjoy the win — the Cavaliers play their home opener on Sunday at 2 p.m. against Manhattan at John Paul Jones Arena.