Virginia's women's basketball team suffered its first ACC loss Friday night, losing a hard-fought battle to the fourth-ranked Maryland Terrapins 74-62 at John Paul Jones Arena. The loss ended Virginia's seven-game winning streak.
The Cavaliers (13-5, 2-1 ACC) jumped out to a quick 18-8 advantage with 13:34 remaining in the first half and looked poised to pull off an upset; however, Maryland (21-1, 5-0 ACC) closed the half with an 8-0 run, cutting Virginia's lead to one going into the locker room.
The second half looked more like a heavyweight fight, with both teams exchanging blows before a pair of three pointers by freshman guard Marah Strickland and junior guard Kristi Toliver gave the Terrapins a 62-56 lead it would not relinquish.
Virginia went through much of that stretch without sophomore Monica Wright. The guard picked up her fourth foul with 9:13 to play in the game.
"There was definitely frustration," Wright said of sitting out in the second half. "But at the same time, I have to learn from my mistakes and understand that it could be avoided."
It was the third time this season that Virginia has lost a game it had been leading by double figures, with the first two coming against George Washington and at South Carolina.
"I can't believe we let it go," senior guard Sharneé Zoll said. "We know they are a great team and they have five great scorers, but as well as we played and as hard as we played, especially in the first half to get the lead and let the game fall is pretty tough."
"I felt it was a really good college basketball game," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "We had a great atmosphere, a great crowd. Our team was very prepared. [Maryland is] an extremely talented team."
The Cavaliers were plagued all game by missed lay-ups and got an uncharacteristic performance from junior center Aisha Mohammed. Mohammed, a 54-percent shooter from the field, was held to six points on 1-8 shooting and committed eight turnovers.
"When you play teams like Maryland, you are not going to be able to make silly mistakes and win the game," Zoll said. "Everyone has to be on point. Every possession is going to count in games like these."
Maryland, which extended its winning streak to 11 with the victory, had four players score in double figures, led by senior center Crystal Langhorne with 20 points. Strickland contributed 19 points and Toliver netted 16 points while junior guard Marissa Coleman had 13 points.
Virginia was led by Wright who tabbed a game-high 22 points on 8-13 shooting.
Junior forward Lyndra Littles had 13 points, 11 coming in the first half, and Zoll had a strong performance with 12 points and 7 assists compared to only one turnover.
"I was proud of my team's effort," Ryan said. "It just goes to show that we are pretty good. We have to shore up a few areas, but we were right there with them, and I was really happy with our effort tonight."
Virginia will continue its conference season tonight when it travels to Miami to take on the Hurricanes at 5 p.m.
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