Virginia gets easy win over Longwood

Anyone wondering what Virginia’s practice squad looks like needed only to purchase a ticket to enter John Paul Jones Arena on Sunday.

With the starting lineup barely breaking a sweat and resting most of the game on the bench, the reserves on the Virginia women’s basketball team helped to

dominate Longwood 88-50 in a game with little drama.

The 19th-ranked Cavaliers (18-4) raced out to a 30-point lead by halftime as they closed out the session with a 45-15 run as coach Debbie Ryan emptied her bench early.  For the game, every Cavalier player connected on at least one shot from the field.

“We got on them so early and got up by so much quick. I was really proud to see that our bench could come off and maintain and then build on the lead,” Ryan said. “I thought that was the

excellent part of that. They didn’t maintain, they built on that lead.

“I was really proud of them.”

Lyndra Littles paced the Cavaliers with 17 points, but the star of the afternoon was a player not known for her offensive prowess.

With her father, Richmond football coach Mike London cheering from the stands, Kristen London scored a career-best 15 points and hit three of her four attempts from behind the 3-point line. London entered the game with just 14 points this season.

“I haven’t seen a double digit since I looked at my weight on the scale and that is triple digits right there,” Kristen London said. “I don’t care anymore really. This is my last year and I just want to go out there and help my teammates.

“It is not even about all the selfish stuff and ‘Oh, yeah I got all these points.’ I had 15 points, but I also had four turnovers and that is hard to swallow.”

London, a senior, helped fuel the first-half scoring spree with a 3-pointer with 10:46 left in the first half, putting the Cavaliers up 27-14.

“After that first one I was like, ‘Oh, buddy. Let me just make it rain,’” London said. “I made it rain.”

The players in Virginia’s starting lineup, none of whom logged more than 20 minutes, cheered during the waning minutes as the reserves built a 43-point lead with 8:53 remaining.

“It is amazing because we see them every day in practice doing it, and it is just nice when the fans can see everything,” Virginia guard Britnee Millner said. “It was just amazing to see them out there.”

Many of the reserves logged so many minutes that Ryan was forced to put her starters back into the contest for the final three minutes of the first half.

“I had to because they were dead,” Ryan said. “Some of them played nine or 10 minutes straight.”

Longwood (6-14) struggled against Virginia’s intense pressure in the opening half, committing 14 turnovers that led to 22 points for the Cavaliers.

Offensively, Littles and London had help.

Ariana Moorer, who had not scored in double figures since Dec. 6, added 13 points in the victory and dished out three of the Cavaliers’ 19 assists. Monica Wright, who only played 19 minutes, also scored 13 points and registered four steals.

Longwood, which shot 30.6 percent from the floor (15 of 49), was paced by a

14-point effort from guard Becky Fernandes, but she fouled out with 13:20 left in the game.

Virginia will return to action Thursday against No. 3 Duke at 7 p.m.

Layups

With seven rebounds in the contest, Littles moved into sole possession of seventh place in program history in rebounding. The senior, who has 812 career boards, entered tied with former forward Brandi Teamer. Littles also ranks seventh in school history in scoring, having passed Donna Holt in Friday’s win over Maryland. … Wright, who has scored 1,591 career points, now ranks 10th in scoring, having passed former great DeMya Walker during the opening half against the Lancers. ... UVa had a decisive edge in rebounding (52-26) and had 25 second-chance points. Longwood had just three.