The Virginia women's basketball team overcame 15 first-half turnovers to edge Indiana, 65-49, and notch its fourth win in the last five years in the annual Big 10/ACC challenge.
The Cavaliers (6-2) drew first blood on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Ataira Franklin and opened up an 11-2 lead after junior center Simone Egwu, who rejoined the starting lineup in place of sophomore forward Jazmin Pitts, sunk a pair of free throws to cap an 8-0 run.
Twenty-four Cavalier turnovers kept the game close, however, as the team failed to improve on its inability to maintain possession durinig its three-game trip to Hawaii last weekend.
"Last week we were on everyone about getting possession by rebounding and tonight our problem was turning over the ball," coach Joanne Boyle said.
After averaging more than 14 turnovers through their first seven games, the Cavaliers coughed the ball up 10 times in the first eight minutes of the game. The Cavaliers' pressure zone bailed out the team's sloppy play on offense by holding the Hoosiers (2-4) to just seven points during the first 13 minutes of the game.
In a game of runs, Virginia extended its lead to 25-9 with a 12-2 streak which included three-pointers from Franklin, who finished with a game-high 16 points, and junior guard China Crosby.
The turnovers finally caught up with Virginia at the end of the second half as Indiana got hot from behind the arc. Indiana freshman guard Candyce Ussery buried her first of two three-pointers to put the Hoosiers in double digits with 4:03 remaining in the first half. Then junior forward Aulani Sinclair, who led Indiana with 12 points on just 3-of-14 shooting, finally made the Cavaliers pay for the miscues.
After Egwu lost the ball underneath the basket, Sinclair knocked down a three-pointer to cut the lead to single digits at 27-20. On the very next play, Sinclair silenced the crowd with another three-pointer off Virginia's 14th turnover of the half, as the Hoosiers overcame a 16-point deficit to go into the break down by just two, 27-25.
Seven Cavaliers turned the ball over at least once in the first half.
"We definitely need to stay composed; we got a little rattled," Franklin said. "We're a smarter team than we played tonight."
Indiana struck first in the second half as redshirt junior center Sasha Chaplin knotted the score at 27 apiece. From there, Virginia reeled off an 11-3 run and was looking to pull away before Sinclair buried another triple and Indiana fought back to make the score 38-34.
Indiana would get no closer, however, as Virginia finally put the Hoosiers away with a 10-2 run to go up 48-36.
Egwu helped shore up the Cavaliers' recently suspect rebounding as she pulled down a team-high eight boards in 34 minutes. Pitts, meanwhile, played just five minutes and did not score.
"She's got to work hard - the ball goes up and she's just standing there," Boyle said of Pitts. "She was doing a great job the first four games coming off the bench and producing for us."
Virginia will travel to Richmond (6-1) Sunday after the Spiders sneaked by Virginia Commonwealth Thursday, 78-77.
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