Following a promising first quarter, the BG women’s basketball team fell to the University of Virginia at home by a score of 67-47 on Sunday afternoon after the Cavaliers opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run. This loss snapped a three game winning streak heading into Sunday’s game.
Junior guard Haley Puk led the Falcons in scoring with 10 points. Also, sophomore guard Carly Santoro and junior guard Rachel Myers each added eight points apiece. Puk would be the only starter in double digits as the rest of the starters combined to produce 16 points the rest of the game.
For the Falcons quickly jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game. The Cavaliers would cut the deficit to two after getting easy shots down low. Puk and Myers were able to hit jump shots down the stretch that included a buzzer-beater by Myers before the end of the first quarter.
The momentum quickly shifted to Virginia in the second quarter as they went on an 11-0 run during the first seven minutes of the game. The Falcons gave up turnovers in the second quarter as they struggled to make the right pass under the press the Cavaliers provided. The Falcons were held to seven points in the second as they went into the half trailing Virginia by a score of 31-25.
“I think we just got a little timid and were not aggressive enough in the second,” Puk said. “Coach Roos emphasized the shot takes and bounce pass because they’re long and athletic, but they were able to take advantage of our mistakes.”
The mistakes continued in the third quarter as the Falcons turned the ball over eight times. This resulted in many fast break points for Virginia as they outscored BG in points off turnovers by a margin of 8-2. The Falcons were held to nine points in the third and trailed by heavy deficit by a score of 52-34.
The fourth quarter began with each team trading baskets with six minutes left in the game where Virginia dominated in getting layups off fast breaks. The Falcons went 2-13 in the fourth quarter and couldn’t overcome the deficit. Virginia would secure the victory and BG’s women’s basketball head coach Jennifer Roos credited Virginia on their superb play throughout.
“We knew we’d be outsized in every position,” Roos said. “I thought we had our chances today and we knew they would get a lot of points in the paint which they did. UVA did a nice job of neutralizing our post game, so they forced us to take a lot of threes. We need to take care of the ball going forward and credit them there man-to-man defense was great. Proud of the effort and we’ll adjust going forward.”
The Falcons will look to get back on track as they will take on Ohio Valley University on Wednesday at the Stroh Center beginning at 7 p.m.
