NCAA Women

Virginia Basketball | Virginia Tops Penn State 89-68 in ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Virginia Basketball | Virginia Tops Penn State 89-68 in ACC/Big Ten Challenge

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (9-0, 1-0 ACC) picked up an 89-68 victory against Penn State (7-1, 0-0 B1G) on Wednesday (Nov. 30) in an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa.

Virginia opened the game on an 11-2 run and built up a 19-point lead early in the second quarter. Their largest lead was a 23-point advantage late in the fourth quarter.

Mir McLean scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Camryn Taylor scored 17 points with six rebounds. Makenna Marisa led the Lady Lions with 16 points.

This is the Cavaliers’ first 9-0 start to a season since 1991 and their first nine-game win streak since the 2008-09 season. This is Virginia’s first victory in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge since 2012.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Virginia held a 5-0 lead in the first minute, thanks partly to a game-opening three-pointer from Sam Brunelle. The Cavaliers extended the lead to 11-2 at the 5:55 mark on a layup from McLean. A three-pointer from McKenna Dale capped a 9-0 UVA run that gave the Cavaliers a 20-5 lead.

Yonta Vaughn extended UVA’s lead to 25-7 by opening the second quarter with a three-pointer. A jumper from the Lions 1:10 into the period ended a 6:48 field goal drought. Once the Nittany Lions found their stroke, they began chipping away at the deficit, mounting a 7-0 run and a 6-0 run to pull to within 11, 37-26, with 1:48 remaining. Vaughn hit her second three of the game in the final 30 seconds, giving UVA a 42-27 lead. A pair of free throws from McLean with 4.4 seconds remaining pushed the halftime advantage to 44-28.

Kaydan Lawson opened the second half by hitting Virginia’s sixth three-pointer of the game. The Cavaliers built up their first 20-point lead, 55-35, on a 6-0 run capped by a Carole Miller layup with 5:56 remaining in the period. The two teams traded points for the rest of the quarter, with the Cavaliers taking a 68-48 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.

Alexia Smith scored five-straight points in the final 1:09 of the game, hitting UVA’s ninth three-pointer followed by a fastbreak layup to give the Cavaliers their largest lead, 89-66. PSU’s Alli Campbell made a layup with 21 seconds remaining in the game to cut the advantage to 21.

CAVALIER NOTES

  • Virginia shot 49.3 percent (33-of-67). Penn State shot 41.3 percent (26-of-63)
  • Penn State shot 13.3 percent in the first quarter (2-of-15). Virginia started the…

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