12-Game Win Streak Ends for Virginia in 70-56 Loss at Duke

Virginia's undefeated run to start the Coach Mox era has come to an end just one game short of matching the UVA women's basketball program's best start to a season since 1991. The Cavaliers went into Cameron Indoor, a place where they had not won since 1997, and could not end that 15-game losing streak in Durham as poor shooting and foul trouble plagued Virginia (12-1, 1-1 ACC) in a 70-56 loss at Duke on Wednesday night.

A corner three from Sam Brunelle helped Virginia take an early 5-0 lead, but Duke responded quickly with a 7-0 run. The Blue Devils did well to deny Brunelle any open looks for the rest of the game, but she hit seven free throws to get into double figures with ten points. The Cavaliers had their best shooting quarter of the game in the first ten minutes, hitting 2/3 three-point attempts and shooting 42.9% from the floor, but turnovers were a problem for the Hoos from the start, allowing Duke to take a 21-17 lead behind eight first-quarter points from Vanessa de Jesus.

Foul trouble was an even bigger issue for Virginia throughout the entire game, as Mir McLean, who has been UVA's best player this season, picked up two fouls in the first quarter and played just eight minutes in the first half. Five different Cavaliers were whistled for two fouls in the first half and Virginia picked up 12 fouls as a team in the first twenty minutes.

UVA made just three field goals in the second quarter as ball security and poor shot selection combined with a solid Duke defense resulted in a nine-point quarter for the Cavaliers. The Blue Devils scored 14 points off of 12 UVA turnovers in the first half. Virginia, who usually feasts in transition, was held to just four-fast break points as compared to 12 fast-break points for the Blue Devils. Shayeann Day-Wilson hit a deep three-pointer just before the buzzer to give Duke a 38-26 halftime lead.

McLean returned to the floor in the third quarter and immediately made an impact, as Virginia's double-double machine recorded six points and four rebounds in the third quarter alone. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, McLean was also whistled for two more tick-tack fouls and exited the game with four personals. Virginia continued to come up empty on the offensive end, making just four shots in the third, and had trouble neutralizing Duke's size advantage on the interior. UVA's tallest players are just 6'2", while the Blue Devils have a few forwards that stand 6'3" or taller, including 6'6" center Kennedy Brown, who broke down the Virginia defense to the tune of a 12-point, four-assist performance. Duke led by as many as 17 points in the third and built a 53-39 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Taylor Valladay and Alexia Smith powered a 7-0 run for Virginia early in the fourth quarter to get the Cavaliers back within nine points, but Duke managed to shut the door with some timely shots to quell UVA's momentum. McLean fouled out of the game early in the fourth quarter and ended up playing just 16 minutes, but still managed to record 10 points, eight rebounds, and two steals. It's not difficult to imagine this game turning out different for the Cavaliers had McLean been on the floor for her usual allotment of minutes. Camryn Taylor also fouled out during the fourth quarter as Virginia was whistled for 26 fouls as a team.

Vanessa de Jesus led Duke with 15 points and was a perfect 7/7 from the charity stripe, while Celeste Taylor (13 points), Kennedy Brown (12 points), and Shayeann Day-Wilson (11 points) joined her in double figures. Duke shot 7/17 from beyond the arc and made 21/29 free throw attempts and handed Virginia its first loss of the season 70-56.

Alexia Smith paced the Cavaliers with 11 points, but Virginia shot an abysmal 32.1% from the floor and 20.0% from three as a team and committed 19 turnovers, leading to 24 points off takeaways for Duke.

Virginia's winning streak comes to an end at 12 games, the longest win streak for the program since 1995. UVA has an eight-day holiday break before hosting Georgia Tech on Thursday, December 29th at 7pm at John Paul Jones Arena.

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