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Thursday, Jan. 6 7:30pm ET
Robinson, Volnaya lead second-half surge | |||||
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- The extra practice that Virginia guard Renee Robinson put in this week paid off. The senior scored a career-high 24 points, 13 more than her previous best, to lead the Cavaliers to an 87-68 victory over No. 9 North Carolina on Thursday night. "I just felt it tonight," Robinson said. "I came in early and shot around with coach (Debbie) Ryan for about an hour and have been working on my shooting for the last couple of days." Svetlana Volnaya added 22, 19 in the second half, for Virginia (10-4, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Juana Brown led North Carolina (9-4, 1-2) with 19 points and Jennifer Thomas added 17 and Leah Sharp had 15. North Carolina played without junior guard Nikki Teasley, who averages 14 points and leads the team in assists. Tar Heels coach Sylvia Hatchell suspended Teasley for Thursday's game, but wouldn't reveal the reason. North Carolina forward LaQuanda Barksdale, who leads the ACC in scoring at 20.2 points per game, was scoreless in the first half and ended the game with four points and 11 rebounds. North Carolina controlled much of the first half and led 35-22 with 5:37 before the break. "We would have been fine if the game was over after the first 16 or 17 minutes," Hatchell said. "They applied the pressure and we didn't handle it well and they were able to convert that into points." Virginia ended the first half with an 18-2 run to lead 40-37. "I don't know if we could have played worse in the first 15 minutes," Ryan said. "We just came out really flat, and once we had the comeback and we realized we were just having a bad night, then we were OK." Virginia continued its spurt by outscoring North Carolina 24-6 to begin the second half, taking a 64-43 lead with 11:56 remaining. The Cavaliers outscored the Tar Heels 42-8 from the 5:37 mark of the first half until there were about 12 minutes remaining. North Carolina shot only 23.5 percent from the field in the second half and finished the game at 36.1 percent. Juana Brown led North Carolina with 19 points, Jennifer Thomas had 17 and Leah Sharp 15. Volnaya scored 14 points in the first six minutes of the second half, including three straight 3-pointers. Quarles had 13 points and Schuye LaRue and Lisa Hosac 10 each for Virginia. LaRue also had nine rebounds. The victory extended Virginia's winning streak to six and marked North Carolina's second straight loss. "This was a big win for us and should be a confidence builder," Robinson said. The Tar Heels had won the last five meetings between the teams and seven of the last eight. Ryan, meantime, said junior guard Erin Stovall would not be returning to the team this year. Stovall, who averaged 13.8 points in eight games as a starter this season, left three weeks ago for personal reasons, but asked to rejoin the team Wednesday. Ryan said she would reevaluate the situation at the end of the season. | ALSO SEE Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
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