Virginia cruises to win

There was ample reason to relax.

The Virginia women’s basketball team had a 19-point lead and just 4:58 remained. Yet coach Debbie Ryan screamed at the top of her lungs, demanding more defensively.

While far from happy with the eventual outcome as Virginia did not connect on another field goal, Ryan got enough in the waning minutes and the Cavaliers claimed an 80-67 victory over East Carolina at John Paul Jones Arena.

“I never felt secure at all,” Ryan said. “I never felt like we had the game or the game was over or anything like that.

“I felt like we worked hard … we just didn’t work very efficiently and that’s where our biggest problem was. We just didn’t string together enough possessions defensively to really make a difference in the game the way that I wanted to, but all coaches are cranky this time of the year. I am probably one of the crankiest ones.”

Virginia (7-2) used matching 20-11 runs late in each half to secure the win over the Pirates (4-3).

The No. 20 Cavaliers’ first scoring spree came after the two teams enjoyed six lead changes and 10 ties. In fact, East Carolina took a 27-26 lead with 7:23 left in the first half on a 3-pointer by senior guard LaCoya Terry, who scored a game-high 25 points.

After senior center Aisha Mohammed hit a pair of free throws for Virginia, point guard Ariana Moorer exploded offensively. The rookie scored 12 of the Cavaliers’ final 16 points in the opening half, giving UVa a 46-35 advantage.

“That was where we gained the separation,” Ryan said. “I thought we had seven or eight or nine possessions in a row where they didn’t score and we continued to score. That was really where the separation was.

“We were using a matchup zone at that time and that made all the difference. It was just a subtle change in what we were doing. It really did help.”

East Carolina, which shot 35.2 percent from the field, trimmed into the deficit early in the second half, at 49-41, on a lay up by Chareya Smith.

Moorer, who tied a career-high with 19 points, erupted again. She sparked the second 20-11 run with a 3-pointer and runner in the lane in a matter of 51 seconds.

“My confidence is getting there,” said Moorer, who scored 18 in the Cavs win on Thursday against Illinois. “My teammates are helping me, just keeping me up, encouraging to do better each game.”

For the game, Virginia shot 43.5 percent from the field, connecting on 30 of 69 shots and forced ECU into 22 turnovers.

As has been the case in the past four games, Monica Wright paced the team in scoring. The junior guard hit nine of 20 shots, scoring a 23 points. Wright also grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end.

“She is uncanny around the ball,” Ryan said. “She is so strong — that’s the thing. She has such a strong upper body that even though a taller, bigger player sometimes doesn’t hold onto the ball as well as she does.

“She just jumps up right in front of them and grabs it. She has great ups.”

Wright scored 16 of her points in the opening half, keeping Virginia from falling behind by more than four points. Ryan expected the Cavaliers’ early struggles after the team returned home early Friday morning from the trip to Illinois.

“I didn’t think we prepared well for this game, primarily because we were off the plane at 1:30 in the morning and I think most of the team went to the library and stayed up all night,” Ryan said. “That’s really no excuse because I think ECU is in the middle of exams.

“It just seems to me like we didn’t prepare well for this game mentally and it had nothing to do with East Carolina as much as it did with us just not really preparing very well.”

Winning at less than 100 percent, however, was rewarding for the players who will now have a 12-day layoff until playing Monmouth on Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.

“It wasn’t our best effort but we were just glad to get the win,” said rookie guard Whitny Edwards. “We could have played better. We have a lot of work to do over the break and we will come back strong in the second half of the season.”

Layups

... Virginia senior Kristen London, who had been sidelined after violating team rules, returned to the court for the first time this season at home. The guard played 3 minutes, scored one point and grabbed a rebound. “I thought Kristen played well tonight and she has really tried to stay sharp on everything and I thought she did well defensively,” Ryan said. “It is good to have another player that you play and get her into a good rotation.” London was also smiling after learning that her father, Mike, had won his playoff game as the coach of the University of Richmond football team. … As has been the case for years, Ryan took part in the local Toy Lift on Friday. The Hall of Fame coach donned an elf outfit as she was lifted in a bucket truck over Fashion Square Mall parking lot. Don’t expect to see the costume at one of Virginia’s upcoming games. “That was retired already,” Ryan joked. “The striped tights are in the books.”