After a weeklong break, the Virginia women’s basketball team seemed sluggish rather than rested as it lost to Duke 71-45 Thursday night at John Paul Jones Arena.
"I’m kind of disappointed,” coach Joanne Boyle said. "I thought we were quite tentative and that led to being really casual with the ball. Tonight, we got pounded on the boards and that was pretty much the story of the game. You look at points off of turnovers and second-chance points and that is more than half of their points."
No. 11 Duke (19-6, 10-2 ACC) was shooting 60 percent from the field in the first half before a series of missed shots off three consecutive offensive rebounds brought its percentage down to 40 percent. The Blue Devils finished the half at 48 percent shooting with 11 second-chance points off 10 offensive rebounds while outrebounding the Cavaliers 22-12.
“We weren’t aggressive enough on the boards,” senior center Sarah Imovbioh said. “We didn’t put a body on the post players. They’re really tall, and I think we were trying to out-jump people. That wasn’t working for us and I felt like my teammates and I didn’t have an adjustment.”
The Cavaliers (15-9, 5-6 ACC) did have five offensive rebounds of their own but missed on four of those follow-up opportunities. The Cavaliers were also only down eight with 6:58 to go in the first half despite missing six of their first seven shots. But the Blue Devils extended their lead to 19 as Virginia only made two more buckets for the rest of the half.
“I don’t know why we just come out of the gate missing easy baskets,” Boyle said. “That’s one thing that we can correct that’s under our control—just making layups and two-foot jumpers. It’s easy baskets. We miss so many of them that just always put us in a deficit.”
In the first half, the Cavaliers also turned the ball over 12 times, leading to 14 Blue Devil points. Meanwhile, Virginia could not capitalize on Duke’s nine turnovers, scoring only two points off Duke’s mistakes. Needless to say, the Cavaliers were lucky to be down 40-21 after a Duke buzzer-beater to end the half.
“It was really deflating,” Imovbioh said. “You don’t want that—that gives them momentum going in the half. We talked about it in the locker room to come out aggressive, but we came out not aggressive.”
Virginia’s game plan was to get the ball inside to Imovbioh, who was seen screaming for the ball. The plan worked early as she paced the Cavaliers with 11 points on 5-5 shooting in the first half.
But in the second half Duke’s defense keyed on Imovbioh to limit her to just four second-half points, and she returned to her role as a rebounder. She grabbed six boards in the second half and finished with eight total to lead the Cavaliers, who finished with just 25 rebounds to Duke’s 42.
Neither team shot exceptionally well from beyond the arc in the first half, but in the second half, Duke made four of nine from 3-point territory. Redshirt freshman guard Rebecca Greenwell made three of those second-half threes and finished with 22 points to lead her team.
Aside from those 3-pointers, Duke primarily scored at the free throw line in the second half, converting seven of 11 from the charity stripe. Duke missed eight of 10 baskets after a Greenwell three with 16:11 remaining in the game, but once again Virginia could not capitalize. The Cavaliers did not score for four minutes after freshman guard Mikayla Venson converted two straight jumpers, the second coming with 12:34 remaining.
Venson added a jumper later in the half to round out her game with seven points, none of which came in the first half. She had more turnovers than shots made, accounting for five of her team’s 22 giveaways.
“Usually, when you watch us play, our guards will just catch and shoot,” Boyle said. “We want that level of confidence from them, but I thought they got so focused on getting the ball inside that they weren’t confident to shoot and they weren’t thinking to shoot, and you can’t second-guess yourself especially when you’re playing a team with that size.”
Virginia’s leading scorer on the season, junior guard Faith Randolph, was also largely unproductive, scoring only four points in the first half before playing just three minutes in the second due to plantar fasciitis. She has not been ruled out for Virginia’s Sunday home game against No. 7 Florida State. That game is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Read More
Mel Josephson and women’s lacrosse prepare to take center stage
By Xander Tilock | 18 hours agoJosephson's ability to perform throughout a game's biggest moments is crucial for the Cavaliers.
Virginia schools can pay players through NIL, but the University should proceed with caution
By Emory Huffman | 2 days agoGiven the unique academic and athletic opportunities Virginia is able to offer its athletes, it is not shocking that Virginia has been resistant to extravagant, NIL-induced changes.
Record-setting weekend for Virginia track and field at Penn Relays and Virginia High Performance
By Tanmayi Patil | 2 days agoThe Cavaliers took down records across two events over the weekend.
