Virginia’s Virginia Cavaliers win women’s basketball title with 74-63 win over Virginia Commonwealth
VIRGINIA — Virginia’s Virginia Commonwealth basketball team beat Virginia Tech 77-62 on Sunday night to take the women’s title at the Carrier Dome.
It was a matchup of two top-ranked teams that were looking to move onto the Final Four for the first time in program history.
The Cavaliers (23-1) are looking to win their first ACC Tournament title since 2011 and the first since the 2015 Final Four.
They are also looking to take home a third consecutive ACC title and first since 2001.
Virginia had won five straight on the way to the Final Five before losing to Duke in the first round of the tournament.
It’s the second straight season Virginia has won at least 10 games.
The Hoosiers (16-11) also had a chance to advance, but they lost to North Carolina 78-68.
It is the sixth consecutive season that Virginia has been one of the top-10 seeds in the ACC and the seventh time in seven seasons that the Cavaliers have reached the Final 48.
Virginia’s best chance to make the Final four came in 2017, when it was in the hunt for its first ACC Championship since 1991.
It had a great season for coach Dana Altman’s Cavaliers, finishing No. 7 in the polls.
The team was able to beat Michigan State and Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Virginia Tech.
The Huskies are trying to get back to the tournament for the third time in four seasons, and they will be looking to add another ACC title to their résumé.
The victory was the fourth in a row for the Cavaliers, who beat North Carolina on Saturday and Maryland on Monday.
The Cavaliers had won four straight on their way to winning the ACC Tournament for the second time in the last six seasons.
The win over the Hokies was Virginia’s first since a 72-59 win over Wake Forest in the 2012 tournament.
The Hokies were expected to be the No. 1 seed in the tournament this season and have beaten two top seeds.
Virginia took an early 7-2 lead in the second quarter and led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter.
But the Cavaliers were able to pull away and tie the game at 67-all after one quarter.
The Blue Devils took a lead in halftime and made three 3-pointers to start the second half.
The Cavaliers hit two free throws to take a 60-57 lead.
Virginia hit two 3s in the final minute of the first half to cut the lead to 57-53.
The two teams traded baskets and the Cavaliers made a run in the fourth to take an 81-68 lead.
Virginia scored the next three points to tie it.
The game ended in a tie.
It was the first ACC title for the Hokie women since winning it in 1991.
Virginia has made three consecutive Final Fours.
The final score was 76-64.
