Virginia Cavalier Women Handle Wake Forest 69-64

Following convincing wins over Miami and Boston College in the friendly confines of JPJ, the Virginia women's basketball team headed to Winston Salem, N.C. to take on Wake Forest this afternoon. The road woes that had plagued the team against Maryland, Alabama, Miami and North Carolina were no issue against the Demon Deacons.

Wake Forest held the lead for much of the first half, including a 21-20 edge with five minutes remaining before intermission. But that was when Virginia took over. Using a 12-2 run to end the period, the Cavaliers took a 33-23 lead into the half.

The Demon Deacons would momentarily cut the lead back to single digits on a three-pointer by Lakevia Boykin just one minute into the second half, but that would be as close as the game would get until the waning minutes as Wake closed the game on a 16-9 run to get us to the final score of 69-64.

Junior Ataira Franklin led the way for the Cavaliers with 23 points. She also chipped in four rebounds, two assists and a steal while playing all 40 minutes of the game. Also in double-figures for Virginia were junior Kelsey Wolfe (13) and senior China Crosby (11). Sophomore Sarah Imovbioh had a team-high eight rebounds and added a block for good measure.

Senior Asia Williams led the way for Wake Forest with 15 points. Three more Demon Deacons were in double figures - junior Chelsea Douglas had 14 while seniors Lakevia Boykin and Sandra Garcia both added 10. Sophomore Dearica Hamby had a game-high 10 rebounds.

Virginia (14-6, 6-3 ACC) has a week off before hosting Georgia Tech (8-12, 1-8 ACC) next Sunday at 1pm. The Cavaliers sit in 5th place in the ACC right now and need to take care of business against the last-place Yellow Jackets to keep the pressure on the top teams in the league.