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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia (Ticker) -- Renee Robinson scored five of her 11 points in a decisive second-half spurt as fourth-seeded Virginia rallied on its home court for a 74-62 victory over No. 13 Pepperdine in the first round of the West Region. Robinson's 3-pointer with 15:25 remaining forged a 40-40 tie and she made two free throws a minute later to put Virginia (24-8) ahead for good. Schuye LaRue made a layup and Telisha Quarles drilled a 3-pointer to cap the 10-0 run and give the Cavaliers a 47-40 cushion. Pepperdine (21-10) got within 53-50 on a short hook shot by reserve Nadja Morgan with 7 1/2 minutes remaning. But Quarles hit a 3-pointer as Virginia used a 7-0 burst to pull away. "I really felt like that was a huge (3-pointers)," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "It got her fired up, it got her teammates fired up and it gave us a little breathing room." Quarles finished with 18 points and Svetlana Volnaya had 16 for the Cavaliers, who hosted a first-round game for the 13th time in 15 years. They will face Boston College in the second round on Sunday. Damaris Hinojosa had 17 points and Morgan and Rasheeda Clark added 13 apiece for the Waves, who were making their first NCAA Tournament appearance. "I'm very proud of our team," said Pepperdine coach Mark Trakh. "We came into the ACC champions' backyard and we led by four points at halftime. With six minutes to go, we still had a chance to win the game, but we missed some free throws and some layups." Neither team shot well, with Virginia going 24-of-64 (37.5 percent) from the field and Pepperdine making 33 percent of its field goals (24-of-72). But the Cavaliers had a 50-40 rebounding advantage.
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