You could call last night's game exciting. You could call it nerve-wracking. The Virginia women's basketball team would call it too close for comfort.
The Cavaliers (17-11, 7-7 ACC) eked out a 75-72 victory against a surprisingly tough Hampton squad last night at University Hall. Forward Schuye LaRue's career-best 33 points could not stop the underdog Lady Pirates (10-14) from threatening to steal a game from the slumping Cavaliers. LaRue, who also tallied 18 rebounds, four blocks, and four steals, surpassed the career 1,000-point mark tonight. She was the only Virginia player scoring in double digits.
Guard Lashondra Dixon led Hampton with 34 points, including 4-for-6 on three-pointers. Backcourt mate Lineni Noa supported Dixon by scoring 18 points on 5-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
Virginia started off the game on a 12-2 run, led by LaRue's eight points and three steals. Dixon responded by rattling off 10 straight points to tie, which included two dramatic three-pointers. Dixon carried her team through the beginning of the half by scoring all of Hampton's 15 points in the first 10 minutes. From that point on, neither team could build a lead exceeding seven points.
Virginia looked to be in control when a LaRue jumper gave them a 24-18 lead with 7 minutes, 11 seconds left in the first half. But Noa's two three-pointers led the Lady Pirates on a 15-6 run. The half ended with both teams knotted at 36 points. Dixon finished the half with 21 points, and LaRue followed close behind with 18.
Things went from bad to worse when Hampton opened the second half with a 7-2 run by capitalizing on two poor passes by the Cavaliers. The see-saw battle continued as Virginia promptly rattled off eight straight points to claim the lead before Hampton scored the next six to retake it. Svetlana Volnaya stopped the Lady Pirate charge with only the second Cavalier three-pointer of the game to tie the game at 49 with 12 minutes left.
LaRue led the Cavaliers on one final big run. She scored eight points during a 16-9 run that secured a 68-61 lead with just 1:40 to go. Hampton was almost able to pull out the victory, thanks to two threes from Noa and a Dixon three-point play, but the Cavaliers made five of their final six free throws to seal the game.
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One reason Virginia was not able to pull away in the game was its outside shooting. The Cavaliers, who came into last night's contest shooting 39 percent from three-point land, mustered only two threes on 19 attempts.
"We had wide open shots, we just couldn't knock them down," coach Debbie Ryan said. "We just for some reason got off, then couldn't get ourselves back on."
Virginia's next game is Thursday at No. 6 Duke, who surprisingly lost 72-46 to unranked Chattanooga last night. Virginia lost to the Blue Devils 71-68 at University Hall on Jan. 22.
"I think we just got to come out to play," Virginia forward Anna Crosswhite said. "Come out, relax, have fun. This is the money time of the season"
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