Foul trouble has been a problem the Cavaliers have avoided for the most part this season, but not however, against Florida State. Schuye LaRue, the one player Virginia could ill-afford to lose to foul trouble, was forced to sit out key stretches of the game.
"She's a great player," Seminole Brooke Wyckoff said. "And having her on the bench is to our advantage because she is a do-it-all-type player. Having her out was something we definitely took advantage of."
With LaRue much less effective as a bench cheerleader, Florida State took advantage of the All-ACC star's absence. After committing her third foul with five minutes left in the first half, LaRue went to the bench with Virginia leading, 24-14. Florida State then went on a 15-7 run to close the half, 31-29.
With eight minutes left in the second half, Virginia led, 60-54, when LaRue committed her fourth foul. By the time she returned a little over two minutes later, the Cavaliers were trailing, 63-62.
"I didn't really keep her on the bench that long, for either stretch," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "But the stretches she was out did hurt us in this particular game."
After losing the lead, Virginia gave up any chance of a comeback with their inability to execute on offense down the stretch. Down by six with just over two minutes left, the Cavaliers turned the ball over on consecutive trips down the court.
"We didn't execute at all," Ryan said. "We turned the ball over too much, and we weren't executing well offensively. We just didn't do a good job down the stretch, that's for sure."
Inbounding the ball under the Florida State basket, Telisha Quarles threw the ball away by trying to pass it to a screening Marcie Dickson, who did not even see the ball coming towards her. The next time down the floor, an Anna Prillaman pass bounced off Svetlana Volnaya's hands and found its way to the scorer's table.
Virginia turned the ball over 20 times to Florida State's 12. The 'Noles scored 28 points off turnovers.
The Cavaliers' fate is now in the hands of the NCAA Tournament selection committee. With the potential this team possesses, there would be no greater foul than to throw away a chance at success because of mental errors. Unfortunately, it seems they have done just that.
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