It may have been senior night for the Virginia women's basketball team, but it was a junior that led the way.
Junior guard Telisha Quarles scored 19 points, including 10 in a first-half run that broke the game open, as the Cavaliers (18-12, 8-8 ACC) defeated Florida State (17-10, 9-7) at University Hall, 77-65.
The game see-sawed back and forth in its early minutes, with the lead changing hands nine times in the first half. Florida State's 10-4 lead was the biggest margin in the early part of the game, and the lead was rarely more than one point for either team.
Virginia trailed 27-25 when Quarles came off a screen at the top of the key, took a skip pass and buried a three-pointer that gave the Cavaliers a lead they would not relinquish.
"Quarles was tremendous tonight," Florida State coach Sue Semrau said. "Her ability to shoot deep combined with her ability to penetrate is a difficult thing to defend."
Quarles followed that shot with a jumper from the top of the key and a steal that led to an Anna Prillaman three-pointer. Quarles then hit a long three-pointer and a layup, and sophomore forward Marcie Dickson made a baseline layup to close the half.
The run took the Cavaliers from a two-point deficit to a 13-point halftime lead and broke the Seminoles' back.
"I want to congratulate Virginia," Semrau said. "That run they had at the end of the first half was really tough to come back from."
The rest of the game was anti-climactic, with the Seminoles coming no closer than an eight-point deficit on a free throw by guard April Traylor with 14 minutes remaining. Dickson then hit a jump shot to increase the margin to 10, and the Cavalier lead would remain in double digits for the rest of the game.
Quarles led Virginia with 19 points. Sophomore forward Schuye LaRue added 15, and Dickson scored 14.
LaRue scored 11 of her points in the second half as the Cavaliers kept the Seminoles at bay.
"Sometimes it's like watching an NBA game when you're watching Virginia because there's so much isolation for LaRue," Semrau said. "But they have such great shooters on the outside that you don't want to sag off."
Due to Ryan's practice of starting all of her seniors in the last home game of the season, Virginia's top four scorers came off the bench. Freshman guard Anna Prillaman scored nine points. Senior forwards Dean'na Mitchelson and Svetlana Volnaya led the Cavalier starters with six points apiece.
Despite a strong all-around effort from LaRue, who tallied 10 rebounds and six assists, the story of the game was the play of Quarles, who had been inconsistent in recent games in which the Cavaliers have struggled.
"Telisha was awesome," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "I knew she would play well because yesterday was the best practice she's had all year. Her defense was good tonight."
"I guess I was in the zone," Quarles said about her torrid first-half shooting.
Traylor led Florida State with 21 points. Brooke Wyckoff scored 16 points, and Levys Torres scored 13 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds. Katelyn Vujas added 11 points.
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