Behind the strong support of its University Hall crowd of 3,078, the Virginia women's basketball team overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half to defeat conference foe Georgia Tech last night, 85-79.
The win moved Virginia (13-10,6-6 ACC) into a fourth-place conference tie with Clemson and within a half-game of the third-place Yellow Jackets (14-9,7-6).
The story of the game was the second-half offensive turnaround for the Cavaliers, who shot only 35.3 percent in the first half and were held to 32 points. Sophomore guard Anna Prillaman scored 19 points in the second half to tie two career-highs with 22 points and six three-pointers. Her five second-half threes also tied her own team record. Other Cavaliers followed her example to post big numbers. The Cavaliers outscored the Yellow Jackets 53-37 on 56.7 percent shooting in the second half.
Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said she talked with her players at the half to reaffirm that they still were very much in the game and only needed to spark their offense.
"I really focused on the offense and how we had to step up and knock shots down," Ryan said. "When we caught the ball, I wanted people to think, I've got to hit this shot for the team. We went out to get on the offensive boards, and we really did a much better job in the second half."
With a stronger inside presence, the Yellow Jackets outrebounded the Cavaliers 24-15 in the first half. However, even with its high percentage of made shots, Virginia was able to match its opponent's second-half effort on the boards with 18 rebounds.
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When these two teams last faced off, it was Georgia Tech who took control early and never looked back, trouncing Virginia in a 92-61 win, holding all but two Cavaliers to single digits in scoring. This time out, four Virginia players tallied at least 13 points, and the bench contributed 20 points to Virginia's resurgence.
"Everybody did a great job. When we had that lead we just wanted to keep extending it. A lot of people knocked down a lot of shots, a lot stepped up for us: A.P. and A.C.," freshman center Brandi Teamer said, referring to Prillaman and Anna Crosswhite, who scored 16 points on six-of-10 shooting.
Teamer also dominated after halftime, scoring 17 of her 19 points in the second half.
The Cavaliers went through an incredibly hot shooting stretch, shooting 15-of-17 early in the second half. Prillaman highlighted a 22-7 run that turned the game around by hitting two pairs of back-to-back threes.
With Prillaman's treys, the Cavaliers grabbed a seven-point advantage and held the lead from there on out, not letting the Yellow Jackets come closer than four points, even though Cavalier signal-caller Telisha Quarles ran into foul trouble and sat out much of the second half.
"I think we've been playing really well, of late," Ryan said, noting that an eight-point loss to Clemson last Thursday could very well have gone the other way. "To expect that kind of shooting every night is maybe a little premature, but we did a nice job offensively. We still sometimes forget plays we need to do, but overall I'm very proud"
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