Friday, January 28, 2011

UVa., Longwood offensively challenged in losses

Friday's results

#15 North Carolina 64, Virginia 52: Obviously 52 points isn't enough to threaten a high-scoring team like North Carolina. Paulisha Kellum was fearless in attacking the rim and finished with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. But the rest of the Cavaliers combined to make just 12 of 50 shots. Second-chance points would have helped, but the Cavs grabbed only 8 offensive rebounds. And while they forced 21 Tar Heels turnovers, Virginia scored only 13 points off those turnovers. Portsmouth native She'la White scored 14 points to lead the Tar Heels, who outrebounded Virginia 52-34 even though injuries left them without 6-5 center Shay Shegog and 6-3 forward Jessica Breland. As usual, the run-first, think-later Tar Heels (18-3, 4-2 ACC) took enough out-of-control shots and made enough mistakes to keep things fairly interesting, and Virginia's defense deserves some credit for that. If only a punchless offense hadn't undermined that effort.

Davidson 63, Longwood 53: Not sure what Davidson coach Michele Savage said to shooting guard Ashley Lax during the under-12-minute media timeout, but our guess is it was something like, "Hey Ashley, how 'bout jacking up a few threes?" We say that because when play resumed, Lax buried three straight 3-pointers in an 84-second span to turn a 37-37 tie into a 9-point Davidson lead. Since Ashley ranks 2nd in program history in 3-pointers made, we suppose you can say the Lancers' defense was a little Lax during that sequence (sorry, couldn't resist). Besides, defense wasn't the major problem. The Lancers shot just 32.8 percent, and their 53 points were the third-lowest total of the season. Morgan Smith led Longwood (4-14) with 14 points but was the only Lancer in double figures. Lax led Davidson (9-10) with 19 points.

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