UVa's aggressive play

Ariana Moorer has worn the orange shoes before.

With a bigger audience watching thanks to cable TV, the senior point guard wanted to get noticed for something besides her outfit.

Moorer did just that.

Virginia closed out a crippling five-loss January campaign with a critical home win over Florida State on Sunday, pulling away early in the second half en route to a 62-52 victory at John Paul Jones Arena.

Thanks to the win, one that Moorer helped secure, the Cavaliers (16-7, 4-5 ACC) remained a viable at-large option for the NCAA Tournament and bolstered the chances of receiving a solid seeding in the league tournament in March.

"I thought the difference tonight was that we capitalized on the transition part of the game,” Virginia coach Joanne Boyle said. “We were getting tips and deflections, and we scored some easy baskets. That was a big difference for us tonight.

“We focused this week on staying in the game. We have had lapses in the first five minutes of the second half and finishing out games. That was a big focus for us this week. Usually we start games out well, but we can lose it at times. I was really pleased that we came out and started the second half and finished the game as strongly as we did.”

Virginia led by just a point, at 26-25, at halftime but appeared to control the tempo thanks to its defense and the inability of Florida State to keep possession. The Seminoles (12-11, 4-5) finished with 23 turnovers that led to 28 points for Virginia.

Virginia guard Ataira Franklin had six steals and Lexie Gerson chipped in with five takeaways for the Cavaliers, who opened the second half on an 11-1 run.

“I'm just trying to fly around and bring the energy for my team,” said Gerson, who added 13 points and five assists.

“Today the back line really stepped up in their press and everyone got involved. It was really good."

Virginia took an obvious advantage in the first half when Florida State center Cierra Bravard, the team’s leading scorer, collected her second foul and despite being put back in the game briefly, the impact was noticeable.

“I won't say that it was a conscious effort to go at [Bravard], but we wanted to take her on,” Boyle said. “She has been in games where she has fouled early, and we wanted that. They have a short bench, they are down a guard this year, and [Alexa] Deluzio got injured in the last game.

“We wanted to push tempo and attack them, and I thought we did that. We forced them out of their man and they went to their zone within six or seven minutes of the start of the game.”

Moorer, noting that only three home games remain in her career, wanted to push the tempo against the Seminoles and led the team with 15 points, many of which came in the final seconds of a possession.

"I'm just trying to create, if not for myself then for my teammates,” she said. “I'm always looking to pass first, but if I can go, then I'm going to go.

"When the shot clock is going down, we just look to penetrate. We want the ball in either my hands or Lexie [Gerson's] hands or one of the guard's hands. We look for a ball screen from the post and try to get to the basket."

Bravard paced FSU with 12 points but was limited to 24 minutes due to her foul trouble in the opening half.

Virginia travels to North Carolina on Friday to play at 8:30 p.m. and will close out the road trip with a tilt against North Carolina State on Sunday.