An intense, rejuvenated Virginia women's basketball squad came out to face fourth-ranked Duke, held their lead for the first 13 minutes and left it all out on the court last night.
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, that just wasn't enough.
Virginia's starting five combined for all but six of the team's total points, drained nine three-pointers and made Duke, the defending ACC champion, look a little less invincible. But a late surge by Duke guard Sheana Mosch left Virginia unable to reclaim its lead, and the Blue Devils won 71-68.
"I thought our effort was excellent tonight," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "It just didn't fall for us there at the end."
After a sloppy win Thursday against Richmond, the Cavaliers (13-7, 4-3 ACC) looked powerful through the first half. Riding the twin waves of senior forward Svetlana Volnaya and freshman Anna Prillaman, who hit smooth three-pointers less than three minutes into the game, Virginia surged to an eight-point lead over the Blue Devils (18-1, 6-1).
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Volnaya went on to take control of the left corner, where she made all four of her attempted threes.
Prillaman and junior guard Telisha Quarles also looked right at home outside the arc, sinking two shots each.
Schuye LaRue suffered under extra attention from Duke's zone defense and had an uncharacteristically low 13 points. But she refused to step down on defense, blocking four shots and nabbing three steals.
Ryan said she was pleased generally with her team's defense, but the Blue Devils capitalized on Virginia's weaknesses on the transition. Duke scored 21 points off Cavalier turnovers.
Duke played without freshman star Alana Beard, who is out with a dislocated thumb, but senior guard Georgia Schweitzer and Mosch stepped up their scoring to fill in. Schweitzer dominated Duke's offense throughout the first half with 15 points and six rebounds.
In the second half, Duke moved to a triangle defense, putting more pressure on the Cavaliers' main shooters and holding them to only two three-pointers. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils' offense began to play up to their billing.
"Our triangle really caused them problems," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said.
Mosch took over the scoring role from Schweitzer with 16 points in the second half, leaving her with a team-high total of 25.
But unlike their weak finish Thursday, the Cavaliers fought until the end of the game and stayed close until Volnaya had a shot blocked inside the last two minutes. Duke freshman Iciss Tillis capitalized on a steal by Schweitzer and sunk the shot that put Virginia behind for good.
"We came out ready to play this game," Volnaya said.
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