Sunday afternoon in Tallahassee, Fla., the Virginia women’s basketball team wrapped up its regular season with an 82-70 loss at Florida State. The Cavaliers could not find an answer for Seminole senior forward Natasha Howard, who tormented Virginia inside to the tune of 33 points and 11 rebounds in her final game at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Before the tip, before the band even blared, there was a pause on Thursday night at John Paul Jones Arena. Senior guards Ataira Franklin, Lexie Gerson and Kelsey Wolfe stood at midcourt alongside coach Joanne Boyle, arms draped around one another’s shoulders. It was senior night for the Cavalier captains, the culmination of many nights of basketball in Charlottesville.
In an exciting back-and-forth contest, NC State senior forward Kody Burke struck with 11 seconds remaining to dash the hopes of the upset-minded Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers lost their hold on the game in the first nine minutes of the second half, and despite their best efforts at a late-game comeback, Virginia fell just short, 80-74.
The Virginia women’s basketball team will try to continue its two-game winning streak this Thursday at Boston College.
The Cavaliers lost a pair of hard-fought games to No. 3 Tennessee and Kansas State to finish November on a three-game slide.
Virginia coughed up possession 17 times, registered just eight assists and was outrebounded 49 to 26 to lose its season-opener for the first time since 2004.
