Wake Forest University
Virginia
Wake Forest Falls At Virginia 61-55
2/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2012
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Wake Forest got off to a go great start but Virginia's hot shooting in the second half helped the Cavaliers to a 61-55 victory Friday night at the John Paul Jones Arena.
The loss drops the Deacons to 16-12 on the year and 6-9 in the ACC while Virginia wins its 20th game of the season and is now 20-9 overall and 8-7 in the conference.
Sophomore Chelsea Douglas led the Deacons with 19 points on 3-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Senior Secily Ray scored her 1,000-career point in the game and finished with night with nine points. She also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, which was the 24th 10+ rebound game of her career. Lakevia Boykin scored eight points and was 2-of-5 from long range but suffered an ankle injury midway through the second half and missed the rest of the game.
Three Cavaliers scored in double-figures led by Ataira Franklin with 17 points. Lexie Gerson and Ariana Moorer each chipped-in with 15 points while Chelsea Shine and Simone Egwu both grabbed nine rebounds.
The Deacs shot 39 percent from the floor and over 30 percent from three-point land but had 20 turnovers for the second-straight game. Virginia was just 31.6 percent from the floor but shot 46.2 percent from beyond the arc, including 4-of-6 in the second half.
The Hoos also had a decisive advantage from the foul line as they were 19-of-25 while the Deacs were just 8-of-13.
After falling behind 6-2 early, Wake caught fire and made four of its first seven three-pointers to run out to a 20-10 lead. The run continued as Erin Hall knocked-down a three-pointer from the corner to give the Deacs a 23-10 lead with under eight minutes to play.
Virginia settled-in and made a run to cut the lead to six but a nice runner in the lane by Douglas as time expired sent the teams into the break with Wake up 33-25.
Douglas led all scorers at intermission with 12 points. Wake Forest shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the floor while Virginia was just 8-of-28 for 28.6 percent.
Virginia cut the lead to 36-33 just four minutes into the second half and would take its first lead since early in the first half at 42-40. The Cavaliers then started to heat-up from the floor and made four-straight field goals to take a 51-44 lead with just over five minutes to play.
The Hoos continued its hot shooting as a three-pointer from the wing by Gerson gave the hosts a 57-46 advantage with under four minutes to play. The Deacons cut the margin to six at 57-51 but the Cavaliers sealed the deal at the line and would take a 61-55 victory.
The Demon Deacons will close out the regular season on Sunday when they host Virginia Tech at 2 p.m. Prior to the game, Wake Forest will honor its three graduating seniors Camille Collier, Secily Ray and Brooke Thomas.
