As the Virginia women's basketball team celebrated the accomplishments of its three seniors on Senior Day yesterday, a 77-71 victory over Wake Forest gave the Cavs even more reason to rejoice.
With yesterday's win, the No. 16 Cavaliers grabbed their first ACC regular season title since 1995-96 before a crowd of 4,192 at University Hall.
"This has been a really, really fun year for me," Virginia Coach Debbie Ryan said. "I have enjoyed every minute with this team."
Seventeen points by guard Telisha Quarles and a double-double by Cavalier forward Schuye LaRue kept Virginia (22-7, 13-3 ACC) ahead in the second half despite a promising comeback by Wake Forest (7-20, 3-13).
After opening a convincing 16-point lead early in the second half, Virginia felt the pressure from Demon Deacon guard Alisha Mosley, who bucketed 18 second-half points to ignite Wake Forest's comeback run.
The shooting guard scored seven straight points early in the second half to single-handedly cut Virginia's advantage to nine. She also connected for three crucial treys down the stretch to help sustain Wake's momentum, but her performance could not derail the Cavaliers' title hopes.
Deacon forward Kristen Shaffer also hit for 14 points, including 12 in the second half, in Wake's rally from the large deficit.
Quarles picked up the Virginia tempo coming off the bench. In addition to her 17 points, the shooting guard also contributed two rebounds.
"I felt that I brought a spark out there when I came off the bench," Quarles said.
Even with the strong contributions from Mosley and Shaffer, the Cavaliers' large second-half advantage proved insurmountable as the Deacons could only whittle the lead down to six points.
Although they entered the locker room at halftime with a 12-point lead, the Cavs were not without mistakes in the first half. The charity stripe was unforgiving in the first half for Virginia, a team that averages 70 percent from the line. They were only able to sink 5-of-13 free throws for a pitiful 38.5 percent. Senior forward Lisa Hosac, who holds a Conference-high 83.7 percent free throw percentage, missed both of her shots from the line.
"In the first half, the free throws just wouldn't fall," Ryan said. "They were thinking too much and putting too much pressure on themselves."
Virginia managed to salvage a decent overall free throw percentage after hitting a more respectable 75.9 percent in the second half. The turnaround could not have come at a better point for Virginia as Wake Forest committed 15 fouls in the second half, sending the Cavs to the line 29 times. After dismissing their first-half woes from the line, they capitalized on 22 of these chances.
One of the Deacon fouls sent senior point guard Renee Robinson out of the game with less than two minutes remaining. Demon Deacon Shaffer dived to recover the ball after a Robinson steal, and landed on Robinson's ankle. The impact aggravated a stress fracture in the senior guard's foot that she has dealt with for most of the season. Robinson will be examined tomorrow to determine the extent of her injuries.
Despite falling behind by as much as 16, Wake Forest never threw in the towel. The Deacons, dead last in the ACC, continuously fought for every ball and rebound to the final buzzer against the Conference leaders.
"I think the thing that is so great about them is that they play hard every minute." Ryan said. "I can just see that they love to be out there."
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