By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer
Published: March 25, 2008

By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - The littlest player made the biggest shot
for Old Dominion. Then one of the tallest made sure it would be
enough to win a thrilling game.
Jazzmin Walters made a 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left in
overtime Tuesday night, and Tiffany Green blocked a tying 3-point
attempt just before the buzzer, giving the Lady Monarchs an 88-85
victory over Virginia and a trip to the Greensboro Regional.
Fifth-seeded Old Dominion (31-4) fell behind 85-81 in overtime,
but closed the game on a 7-0 run. Walters started it with a free
throw, Jessica Canady added a three-point play with 1:25 to go, and
the 5-foot-2 Walters made a shot from her hip just before the
shot-clock buzzer to send the Lady Monarchs’ crowd into a frenzy.
“Once I got the ball, I just let it fly,” Walters said of her
third 3-pointer of the game. “That play wasn’t set up for me to
score, but it ended up that way.”
It got even louder when the 6-2 Green met Lyndra Littles at the
top of the key and blocked her shot. Littles, who scored 29 points,
collected the rejection and tried again, but her second effort came
up well short and the wild contest was finished.
“I thought Littles during the last five minutes of the game was
phenomenal,” Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry said. “She played
with a different passion and energy. But this little engine that
could was relentless, too,” she added, meaning Walters.
Littles is not the Cavaliers’ best 3-point shooter, having made
just 17 this season in 44 tries, but she knew what she had to do on
that final possession.
“I tried to get into good range and she (Green) was right
there,” she said.
The Lady Monarchs, who snapped a six-game losing streak in the
tournament in the first round, will face top-ranked Connecticut or
Texas on Sunday in Greensboro, N.C.
The victory was especially meaningful for senior T.J. Jordan,
who had never beaten the Cavaliers and didn’t want her career to
end against Virginia.
“We lost to them my freshman year, my sophomore year,” said
Jordan, who scored 14 points and had five assists. “It was
significant to win here on our court under these circumstances.
This was a classic game. We can’t ask to go out any better than
this.”
Fourth-seeded Virginia (24-10), which trailed almost all night,
forced overtime when Aisha Mohammed was fouled with 1.8 seconds to
go - on the Cavaliers’ sixth shot from in close on the possession -
and she swished the free throw to extend the game.
“It felt like we were battling from behind from the very
start,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. “We were getting to the
rim, but we weren’t able to finish. ... When the game got into
overtime and we were up by four, I felt like we were on our way.”
Then Walters had the ball, the clock running down, and ended
Ryan’s season.
“She must have had ice water in her veins, because she just
threw it in,” Ryan said.
Walters led Old Dominion with 17 points and 10 assists and
committed just one turnover. Shahida Williams and Green scored 13
each, and Green also had 12 rebounds and six blocks. Canady added
12 points and 10 rebounds.
Littles grabbed 14 rebounds, and Mohammed had 17 points and 15
rebounds. Sharnee Zoll scored 13 with nine assists in her final
college game, and Virginia’s best scorer, Monica Wright, had 11 on
5-for-17 shooting before she fouled out with 5:23 left.
Littles shot 10-for-29 for Virginia and scored five points in
overtime, but Virginia didn’t score after her layup put them ahead
by four with 2:14 to play.
The Cavaliers trailed by 11 in the second half before going on a
14-2 run. Littles had six points in the run, including the basket
that gave the Cavaliers their first lead since the opening minutes
at 69-68 with 4:11 remaining. It last just 9 seconds.
Jasmine Parker’s 3-pointer put Old Dominion ahead, and
Mohammed’s layup off an inbounds play tied it with 3:44 left before
Walters tried to win it in regulation.
Her 3-pointer gave the Lady Monarchs a lead they held until the
final sequence, when Virginia missed five consecutive shots in
close before Mohammed finally converted.
Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry called a timeout trying to freeze
Mohammed, who was just 2-for-5 from the line to that point, but she
made the tying attempt.
The first half was rugged, with 17 fouls called and at least
twice that many committed. Virginia started 3-for-4, then went
stone cold, missing 18 of 20 as the Lady Monarchs put together an
18-4 run and took a lead that grew to as much as 13 points.
But Virginia regrouped during the last media timeout, started
making shots and outscored Old Dominion 13-4 over the last 3:20 to
close to 39-36 at the break.