November 16, 2008

RAMS BATTLE HARD, BUT FALL TO NO. 6 NORTH CAROLINA, 77-65
Senior duo pours in 39 points, grabs nine rebounds
Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Behind 39 points from seniors Quanitra Hollingsworth (Chesapeake, Va.) (pictured) and Radoslava Bachvarova (Varna, Bulgaria), the Virginia Commonwealth University gave nationally-ranked North Carolina a scare, but the sixth-ranked Tar Heels came away with a 77-65 victory in the second round of the Preseason WNIT on Sunday evening.  

“I was really impressed by VCU,” UNC Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “They are extremely athletic and they really attack you on the defensive end. They are a very, very good team.”

The Rams fall to 1-1 on the year, while North Carolina improves to 2-0. VCU will now wait until late Wednesday evening to find out the details of its final game of the Preseason WNIT.

Bachvarova and junior Kita Waller (Gainesville, Ga.) drilled three-pointers early as the Black and Gold claimed a 9-6 advantage with 15:13 showing on the first half clock.

The Rams continued to hang tough with the high-power Tar Heels as Hollingsworth connected on a lay-up with 10:30 remaining in the first half to give VCU a 12-10 lead.

Cetera DeGraffenreid picked up back-to-back fast break lay-ups to cap off a 10-2 Tar Heel run that pushed North Carolina’s lead to 29-22 with 2:26 left in the first half.

A three-pointer by Heather Claytor and a jumper by Iman McFarland staked UNC to a 37-26 advantage as the two teams headed to the intermission.

Unfortunately for the Rams, the break did not slow down the blistering hot Tar Heel offense, which came out of the second half with a 20-8 run to claim a 57-34 lead.

The senior tandem of Bachvarova and Hollingsworth kicked started the VCU offense scoring 16 of 18 points to bring the Rams within 18 at 76-58.

Waller capped off the furious Black and Gold comeback with an old-fashioned three-point play as VCU fell to the sixth-ranked Tar Heels, 77-65.

“They [UNC] just make you play so hard,” Head Coach Beth Cunningham said. “The athleticism they have is hard to match-up with and their depth makes it even harder because they are able to run in so many players.”

The loss snaps a streak of 17 consecutive wins in the month of November and is the first in the month of November since the 2004-2005 season.

Hollingsworth and Bachvarova scored in double-figures for the second straight game with 20 and 19, respectively, while Waller and junior D’Andra Moss (Atlanta, Ga.) each chipped in seven apiece.

The Rams are now in a pool with Tulane and Indiana, along with the loser of Middle Tennessee State/Oklahoma. Two of those schools with host the final game of the Preseason WNIT.

Please stay tuned to VCUathletics.com for updates on the third and final game of the 2008 Preseason WNIT.