Women’s Basketball Falls At Virginia, 83-71

Feb. 21, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Lady Tigers sophomore Lele Hardy entered the school record books on Thursday night, tallying her 161st career steal to rank 10th all-time. However, the Clemson women’s basketball team suffered an 83-71 loss to Virginia at the John Paul Jones Arena.

Hardy set the school freshman record a year ago with 98 steals and has accumulated 63, including a pair against the Cavaliers, this season.

The native of Spartanburg, SC also had 11 points and four rebounds in the effort, while Morganne Campbell’s 12 led the Lady Tigers (10-16, 3-8 ACC).the game to total 731 for her career, surpassing former Cavalier legend Dawn Christy Brown also scored in double figures for Clemson with 11 and added nine assists and five boards.

“I feel like we gave a great effort tonight,” said Clemson Head Coach Cristy McKinney. “We did some good things, but had a stretch with a couple of turnovers that really hurt us.”

Virginia’s Sharnee Zoll became the ACC’s career assist leader during Thursday’s contest. The senior guard had seven in Staley’s 729.

Aisha Mohammed led all scores with 26 for Virginia, which recorded its 20th win of the season. The Cavaliers are now 20-7 on the year and 8-3 in conference action.

A pair of three-pointers in the final minute of the first half helped the Lady Tigers cut a 15-point deficit to 39-30 heading into the break. The nine-point differential was the fewest since Zoll hit a pair of free throws for Virginia at the 11:04 mark to put her team up 18-9.

Clemson then came within six early in the second half following a 7-0 run that included five points by Morganne Campbell.

The Cavaliers responded with their own 9-0 run to stretch the lead back to 15 at the 13:23 mark. They were ahead 67-53 with 7:17 remaining before the Lady Tigers had a final surge. Brown made a lay-up and then knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing, while Jasmine Tate put Clemson within six at 71-65 with 4:28 remaining.

However, Virginia held the Lady Tigers to just four points in the final four minutes while scoring 12 of their own, which included six of their 23 free throws on the night.

The Lady Tigers will return to Littlejohn Coliseum on Sunday afternoon for a date with Georgia Tech. The teams are slated for a 2:00 pm tip in their second meeting of the season.