UVA Women's Basketball Falls at No. 21 Duke, 57-48

The Cavaliers' late rally came up short at Cameron Indoor

Author:
Matt Newton
Publish date:
Jan 24, 2022 2:39 AM EST

For the second game in a row, the Cavaliers found themselves down by nearly 20 points on the road at a ranked opponent. And for the second game in a row, the UVA women's basketball team rallied and nearly staged the comeback, but ultimately fell short and lost by nine again.

Virginia trailed No. 20 Duke at Cameron Indoor by as many as 18 points late in the third quarter, but the Hoos did not quit and even cut the deficit to just five points with two and a half minutes remaining in regulation.

Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, they would score only three more points in the game as the Blue Devils managed to close out the game and defeated Virginia 57-48 in Durham on Sunday night.

It was a painful instance of déjà vu for the Wahoos, who nearly erased a 17-point deficit at No. 20 North Carolina on Thursday, battling back to trail by only six points in the fourth quarter, before ultimately falling to the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, 61-52.

Virginia's persistence in the second half was admirable, but UVA's early offensive woes continued to be a thorn in the side of the Cavaliers, who remain winless in ACC play.

Virginia scored just five points in the first quarter and trailed 14-5 after the first period. Duke's Shayeann Day-Wilson outscored UVA by herself in the opening frame, tallying six of her game-high 13 points in the first ten minutes of the game.

UVA managed to put the ball in the basket a few times in the second quarter, as McKenna Dale scored seven points in the period. But, Duke still outscored Virginia 20-13 in the second quarter and the Blue Devils led 34-18 at halftime.

Virginia shot a low 22.6% from the floor in the first half. The Cavaliers made just three of their 17 three-point attempts in the entire game.

Duke did not fare much better from the perimeter, also making three of their 14 attempts from long-range. But, the Blue Devils shot 47.8% from the floor in the game and did enough on the defensive end to keep the Cavaliers at bay.

Both offenses struggled out of the gate in the second half and it took nearly four minutes for the first basket of the third quarter to be scored. Duke took a 46-29 lead into the final period.

In the fourth quarter, Virginia went on a 10-0 run, all on layups - two by Amandine Toi, two by Kaydan Lawson, and one by Taylor Valladay. Toi and Valladay had nine points each and Lawson led the Cavaliers with 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists.

Lawson's layup made it 50-45 Duke with 2:33 remaining and put some serious game pressure on the Blue Devils. But, Virginia was not able to score on either of its next two possessions and a jumper by Day-Wilson with 46 seconds left put down any hope UVA had of completing the comeback.

With the loss, Virginia extends its losing streak to seven games and falls to 3-13 overall and 0-6 in ACC play. After a rough three-game road trip, UVA returns home to host Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash on Thursday at 7pm.

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