For the Virginia women’s basketball team, the ACC Tournament came to an end Thursday with a 62-52 loss to Miami.
The first half saw 11 lead changes and six ties as the two teams went back and forth until the final 4:06 of the half, when the Hurricanes (19-11, 8-8 ACC) took a four-point lead into halftime — the largest by either team in the half. The Cavaliers (17-13, 7-9 ACC) went 0-4 from the field in that span.
Virginia’s season-leading scorer, junior guard Faith Randolph, made the Cavaliers’ last basket of the half when she dribbled the ball down the court to face three defenders in the front court before driving to the basket for a tough jumper with two defenders in her face to score her 1,000th point, but unfortunately for Virginia, that was Randolph’s first and only basket of the game, an exemplar of Cavaliers’ offense in the second half.
Miami shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and had 16 points in the paint compared to the Virginia’s six. The Cavaliers did have six steals compared to the Hurricane’s one but were only able to score two points — Randolph’s jumper — off those steals. Virginia also won the assist battle 6-3 in the first half but would only have three more dimes for the rest of the game.
The Cavaliers started the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 36-34 lead but went the next four minutes without a point. Virginia broke that drought with a free throw by freshman forward Lauren Moses and a three-pointer by freshman guard Mikayla Venson off an offensive rebound from Moses’ second free throw attempt, but Miami came back with a three-pointer of its own from senior forward Necole Sterling to take a 42-40 lead.
Miami started the second half shooting 0-9 and had missed five from beyond the arc before making that three. In total, the Hurricanes attempted a season-high 29 threes and only made eight of them, but with each one, they were able to extend their lead, as the Cavaliers had difficulties scoring in all facets of the game — including the free-throw line.
After a jumper by Virginia’s freshman guard Aliyah Huland El gave the Cavaliers their first points in six minutes, Miami made the third of its four three pointers in the half to extend its lead to 10 with seven minutes remaining in the game. The Hurricanes only missed two more shots the rest of the half while holding Virginia to a second half 26.5 percent shooting percentage to secure the win and advance to the next round of the tournament.
Miami also finished the game with six fast break points and six blocks, while the Cavaliers had zero fast break points and one block.
Sophomore guard Breyana Mason led Virginia with 13 points and five rebounds, while sophomore guard Adrienne Motley led her team with 15 points.
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