Lady Cavs march on following late-night tourney win

By Jay Jenkins
Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: March 24, 2008

NORFOLK - It took until the wee hours of the night, but Virginia did its part to give basketball fans in the Commonwealth what they wanted: a de facto state women’s basketball championship game.

Virginia, after showing visible rust early from a two-week layoff, slowly pulled away to dispatch 13th-seeded UC Santa Barbara, 86-52, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

With the lopsided win, UVa (24-9) advances to face pod-host Old Dominion on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ODU upended 12th-seeded Liberty, 82-62, in Sunday’s opening contest.

“I felt like once we got into a rhythm running the ball that was sort of how we pulled away and got some separation,” said Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, “and then we were able to close the game.” Virginia, which led 39-30 at halftime after a late first-half surge, exploded in the second half using a stifling defense that limited UCSB to just six second-half field goals and an consistent offensive attack that led to endless trips to the free-throw line.

In fact, after UCSB forward Ashlee Brown hit a free throw with just over 17 minutes left to trim Virginia’s lead to seven, at 45-38, the Cavaliers went on a 16-0 run that lasted five minutes.

The game-changing scoring spree was highlighted by five points from junior Lyndra Littles and sophomore guard Paulisha Kellum’s second 3-pointer of the game.

UVa, which made 31 of 38 free-throw attempts, did not let off the throttle, pushing its advantage to 74-44 with 6:44 remaining on Kelly Hartig’s short-range jumper of the glass.

Due to the lopsided margin, Virginia coach Debbie Ryan was able to rest her starting lineup in the waning minutes and get seldom-used senior Tara McKnight a pair of 3-pointers in just her second NCAA Tournament game.

For the game, UVa was paced offensively by Littles (17 points), Aisha Mohammed (15) and Sharnee Zoll (13). Enonge Stovall, who celebrated her 21st birthday Sunday, added 10 points, five rebounds in two steals off the bench.

Mohammed and Zoll did most of their damage in the first half as the teams exchanged the early momentum.
Zoll actually pushed Virginia out to a 4-0 lead on back-to-back baskets, but UCSB answered with six unanswered points.
The Cavaliers were not able to shake the Gauchos until the final six minutes of the session - and they did it the easy way.

In fact, after Brown connected on a jumper with 6:09 left to trim Virginia’s lead to one, at 28-27, the Cavaliers scored their next eight points at the free-throw line.

Brown ended the 8-0 run with another jumper for the Gauchos with just over a minute left, but Kellum connected on her first 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to put UVa up 39-29.

“I thought the game started with UCSB really running with us and putting a lot of pressure on us defensively,” Ryan said. “We actually had to slow them down a little bit - they were penetrating extremely well, getting to the boards on us in the first half.

“We needed to just settle down in a half-court defense that was going to slow them down a little bit.”
In the opening half, UVa relied offensively on Mohammed, who scored nine before sitting the final 7:40 with two fouls, and Zoll, who scored 11 of her 13 points. Oddly enough, Zoll, the ACC’s all-time assist leader, entered the game having scored just 21 points in the Cavaliers’ previous five games.

“There is a sense of urgency in my game,” said Zoll, who had four assists and three steals. “It is great to be playing in the NCAA Tournament again, and not just for us, but for Coach Ryan who worked through a lot of adversity the last couple of years.

“We have fought through it and we are determined to keep this going and stay on this track that we are on.”
Tuesday’s contest between Virginia and Old Dominion will mark the 31st meeting in the rivalry and the first since the opening game of 2006-07 season. The Cavaliers, who are scheduled to play at ODU next season too, have won the past five games in the series.

“[Old Dominion] has all the parts, they have all the pieces so it is going to be an absolute battle,” Ryan said. “They are very athletic and they bring great athleticism off the bench.”