Virginia Stumbles in 2nd Half, Falls to No. 3 NC State 72-61 in ACC Opener

For half the night, Virginia went punch for punch with one of the hottest teams in college basketball. But the Cavaliers couldn't sustain that momentum in the second half as a stunning New Year's Eve upset over the third-ranked team in the country ultimately eluded them. 

After a strong second quarter gave UVA a one-point halftime lead, No. 3 NC State (13-0, 1-0 ACC) stormed out of the gates in the second half and never looked back, pulling away for a 72-61 victory over Virginia (8-4, 0-1 ACC) in the ACC opener on Sunday night at John Paul Jones Arena. 

Having earned a ranked win over NC State when these two teams met last season in Charlottesville, Virginia was not at all intimidated by the matchup and got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 9-5 lead thanks to five early points from Kymora Johnson. The Wolfpack responded with a 12-0 run sparked by back-to-back buckets from Saniya Rivers, who returned to the lineup after missing the last three games with an injury. UVA shot 4/17 from the floor and trailed 17-10 at the end of the first quarter. 

Virginia got its offense going in the second quarter, getting three-pointers from Paris Clark and Camryn Taylor, her first of the season and just the sixth of her career. In a bizarre sequence that further propelled the Cavaliers back into the game, NC State's Madison Hayes and Mimi Collins were hit with technical fouls on back-to-back possessions for yelling "and one" after making contested shots. Sam Brunelle made all four of the ensuing technical foul shots, helping UVA take the lead. 

Virginia's defense held NC State to 25% shooting in the second quarter and the Cavaliers won the period 22-14, taking a 32-31 lead over the No. 3 team in the country to the halftime break. Camryn Taylor had a near double-double in the first half with nine points and 10 rebounds. 

Coming out of halftime, the Wolfpack showed why they are undefeated, going on a quick 7-0 run sparked by five quick points from Mimi Collins. Virginia's offense went ice cold, shooting 2/14 from the floor in the quarter as NC State dominated the period 23-8 to seize control of the game and take a 54-40 lead into the fourth. 

The onslaught continued in the fourth quarter as the Wolfpack built a lead as large as 20 points. Virginia scored eight points in the last 64 seconds to make the final score a much more respectable 11-point margin at 72-61. 

Mimi Collins led NC State with 25 points and River Baldwin (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Saniya Rivers (10 points, 16 rebounds) both had double-doubles for the Wolfpack, who improved to 13-0 on the season. NC State won the rebounding battle 56-44 and outscored Virginia 32-16 in the paint.

Camryn Taylor finished with a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double and Kymora Johnson had 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Olivia McGhee also reached double figures with 11 points, but the Cavaliers struggled offensively overall, shooting just 27.8% from the floor. 

Read Val's Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.

Up next, Virginia (8-3, 0-1 ACC) hits the road for the first time in ACC play and visits Georgia Tech on Thursday at 7pm in Atlanta. 

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