Down by as many as 13 in the first half, and up by as many as 13 in the second half, the No. 22 Virginia women's basketball team found themselves in a roller coaster battle against Georgia Tech on Sunday. The Cavaliers escaped the Yellow Jackets 57-55, picking up their third straight ACC win. Monica Wright did what she does best, scoring 23 points for the 'Hoos.
Virginia is now 14-5 overall and 3-2 in the ACC. The game was part of Virginia's National Girls and Women in Sports Day, and Olympic gold medalist and former UVa All-American rower Lindsay Shoop was honored at halftime.
Wright finished 8 for 18 from the field, with five rebounds and two steals. She has now scored at least 20 points in 12 of the Cavaliers' 19 games this season.
Lexie Gerson (Fort Washington, Pa.) added 10 points for Virginia, while Whitny Edwards (Charlotte, N.C.) just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Britny Edwards (Charlotte, N.C.) also gave the Cavaliers a solid outing, contributing career-highs in both points (eight) and rebounds (six).
Facing a 20-7 deficit in the first half, Virginia went on a 14-0 run to take a 21-20 lead on a lay-up by Gerson with 4:45 left in the half. The Cavaliers trailed 26-25 at halftime.
In the second half, Virginia opened up a 13-point lead at the 7:17 mark, but Georgia Tech battled back during the final minutes and trailed by three points, 57-54, with under a minute to play. Georgia Tech's Brigitte Ardossi missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game, with nine seconds on the clock, but Britny Edwards missed the front end of a one-and-one to give the Yellow Jackets the ball back with five seconds left.
Whitny Edwards fouled Sharena Taylor with 1.3 seconds left on the clock and Taylor converted one free throw to make the final score 57-55.
Virginia improved its all-time record vs. Georgia Tech to 52-10, and continued its dominating advantage in games played in Charlottesville, improving to 27-1 on its homecourt vs. the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech, which is receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and ranked No. 22 by the Associated Press, was led by Ardossi with 18 points followed by Deja Foster with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Virginia hosts NC State Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in John Paul Jones Arena.