Taylor Valladay, Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball — Photo courtesy of Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Communications

UVA Women's Basketball Falls to No. 4 NC State 66-43 in Rematch

After a strong start, the Cavaliers suffered extended scoring droughts in the second and third quarters and fell to the fourth-ranked Wolfpack

Author:
Kathleen Boyce
Publish date:
Jan 14, 2022 3:09 AM EST

After losing by 27 points to the Wolfpack on December 19th, Virginia women’s basketball (3-10, 0-3 ACC) needed to show it could compete with No. 4 NC State (15-2, 6-0 ACC). In the first and fourth quarters, the Cavaliers were competitive with the Wolfpack, but the Cavaliers only managed 12 points in the second and third quarters combined, so NC State came away with another dominant 66-43 victory on Thursday night at John Paul Jones Arena.

Not only did the Cavaliers keep it close in the first quarter, but they led most of the way and finished the opening frame with a 15-11 advantage. Virginia held NC State to 3/15 shooting in the first quarter, and used a 13-0 run to build the lead. Taylor Valladay scored five straight points and had seven in the first quarter to pace the Cavaliers.

The Wolfpack responded with a 15-0 run spanning from the end of the first quarter into the second quarter and went from trailing 15-6 to leading 21-15. Three straight turnovers for the Cavaliers helped NC State take the lead and forced UVA coach Tina Thompson to call a timeout with 7:50 remaining in the second quarter.

The Wolfpack continued to pull away and took a 29-20 lead into halftime, outscoring UVA 18-5 in the second quarter. UVA made just one field goal out of 11 attempts in the quarter.

In the third quarter, NC State outscored Virginia 18-7, capping a 36-12 run over the second and third quarters that blew the game open.

Amandine Toi made two three pointers in the third quarter to give the Cavaliers some offense, while Jada Boyd managed to add six points for NC State and Elissa Cunane grabbed seven rebounds in the third quarter alone.

Trailing 47-27 heading into the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers were finally able to get back into a rhythm offensively, as they scored 16 points in the final frame.

The Hoos went on an 8-0 run with two buckets from Amandine Toi as well as scores by Camryn Taylor and Eleah Parker to close the gap to 55-41. That was the closest the Cavaliers would get, as the Wolfpack finished with a 23-point victory, winning 66-43.

Amandine Toi led the way for Virginia with 14 points and four assists and Eleah Parker added six points and nine rebounds.

NC State demonstrated its depth in the box score. Elissa Cunane was the only player in double figures with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but 12 different players scored for NC State.

Additionally, NC State won the turnover battle in a big way, with just 12 turnovers compared to Virginia’s 21. The Wolfpack converted those turnovers into 26 points, while the Cavaliers had only 10 points off of turnovers.

Virginia will stay in Charlottesville and continue to look for its first ACC win on Sunday at 1 pm against Syracuse, a team that is currently 1-4 in the ACC.

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