No. 15 Virginia Opens With 78-48 Win Over High Point

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 15 Virginia women’s basketball team kicked off its 2008-09 season Friday night with a dominating 78-48 win over High Point at John Paul Jones Arena. Five Cavaliers scored in double figures, led by freshman Ariana Moorer’s 19 points.

Virginia forced 37 turnovers in the game, including 20 in the first half. Moorer and Monica Wright each had seven steals as the Cavaliers racked up 20 steals in the game. The Cavaliers also out-rebounded High Point, 52-34.

Wright finished with 16 points, while freshman Whitny Edwards had a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds. Aisha Mohammed also had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman Chelsea Shine chipped in 10 points.

UVa’s freshman class of Moorer, Whitny Edwards, Shine and Britny Edwards had a strong start, combining for 43 points, 22 rebounds, nine steals and six assists.

The Cavaliers got off to a slow start but began pulling away midway through the first half. A Shine bucket at the 10:02 mark broke an 11-all tie and started a 23-8 run to end the half. High Point got to within 17-15 on a Mackenzie Maier basket with 7:51 remaining but the Cavaliers’ defense stiffened and did not allow a field goal the rest of the half as UVa took a 34-19 lead into the locker room.

After a Jurica Hargraves three-pointer cut the lead to 12, 34-22, 10 seconds into the second half, the Cavaliers rattled off 12 of the next 16 points to push the lead to 20 at the 16:06 mark. High Point got no closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

Maier and Hargraves led High Point with 12 points apiece.

Neither team shot particularly well, with High Point hitting on 40.5 percent (17-for-42) of its shots, while UVa knocked down 35 percent (28-for-80) of its attempts. UVa dominated the offensive glass with 27 offensive boards, which led to 21 second-chance points. High Point had just five offensive rebounds and no second-chance points.

Virginia played without senior forward Lyndra Littles, who will not participate in games during the fall semester for academic reasons.

Up next for Virginia is a Monday night showdown at No. 6 Tennessee. Tip-off from Thompson-Boling Arena is 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on SportSouth.