UVA Women's Basketball Outmatched by No. 2 NC State in 82-55 Loss

Coming off of an overtime loss to No. 17 Georgia, a very motivated No. 2 NC State (11-2, 2-0 ACC) team was going to be a tough opponent for UVA women’s basketball (3-8, 0-1 ACC) in its ACC opener. While the Hoos kept it close through the first quarter, the Wolfpack eventually pulled away and beat the Cavaliers 82-55 on Sunday afternoon in Raleigh.

Despite five turnovers in the first quarter, UVA trailed by only four points after the first ten minutes of play, 19-15. Amandine Toi was 3/3 from the field in the first quarter with eight points. Kaydan Lawson hit a three pointer late in the quarter to pull the Hoos to within four.

NC State came out strong in the second quarter, going on a 16-4 run to stretch the lead to 35-19. Wolfpack point guard Raina Perez was 3/3 from beyond the arc with 10 early points. During one stretch, NC State made seven straight field goals, a level of offensive efficiency UVA did not have the firepower to match.

Camryn Taylor drained a three and Taylor Valladay completed a three point play late in the second quarter to stem the tide, but the Cavaliers trailed 42-31 going into halftime.

At the start of the second half, Carole Miller drained a three for the Hoos, but NC State star Elissa Cunane responded with back to back buckets. After only scoring four points in the first half, Cunane finished with 17 in the game.

Amandine Toi added to her scoring total with a three pointer and finished with a game-high 20 points on 8/14 shooting and 4/8 from beyond the arc. Virginia was averaging 3.8 threes per game, but the team made nine total in this contest. However, the Wolfpack held Camryn Taylor, UVA’s leading scorer, to just six points on 2/13 from the field. At the end of the third quarter, NC State led 61-43.

The Wolfpack extended the lead even more in the fourth quarter, holding UVA to just 12 points. Elissa Cunane showed her toughness in the post on an athletic three point play, and 11 different players scored for NC State once more players saw the court in the fourth quarter.

Two major differences in the game were turnovers and free throws. UVA had 20 turnovers in the game while NC State had 10. In addition, NC State was 17/22 from the line while UVA was 4-7. Overall, NC State’s talent and depth were too much for UVA to handle.

Two efficient players were Kaydan Lawson for UVA and Raina Perez for NC State. Lawson finished with 10 points on 4/6 shooting with six rebounds and just one turnover, while Perez had 16 points on a perfect 6/6 from the field and added three assists.

With the loss, Virginia falls to 3-8 on the season and begins ACC play 0-1. After facing the second-ranked team in the country, UVA will travel to Houston to play Texas Southern on Wednesday at 1pm.

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