Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 26, 1990 TAG: 9003262034
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We were really loose and felt good coming into the game," coach Debbie Ryan said after the Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball champions upset the Volunteers 79-75 in overtime Saturday to earn their first trip to the Final Four.
The Cavaliers had lost their four previous meetings with the Lady Vols in NCAA Tournament play, but Ryan said those losses had no effect on her team.
"I felt we had done our job," she said. "After all, we're the No. 2 seed in the region and we got to where we're supposed to be. You hate to lose, but I never felt real down after those previous losses because they had a better team. It wasn't like we were supposed to win all those games and we didn't."
Sophomore Dawn Staley, voted the region's most valuable player, scored 25 points for the Cavaliers (26-5), including six of the nine in the extra period. Tonya Edwards, also with 25 points, led the Vols (27-6).
"It's a dream come true," said Staley, who had written No. 44 on the backof her sneakers in memory of the late Loyola Marymount star Hank Gathers, who grew up in the same Philadelphia neighborhood as Staley. "You play in the playgrounds and dream of going to the Final Four."
The loss cost Tennessee a chance to play the Final Four on its home floor. The national semifinals and finals will be held Friday and Sunday in Knoxville, and though 18,000 seats have been sold for the Final Four, a tournament-record crowd of 25,000 was expected if the Lady Vols had advanced.
In Friday night's first semifinal, Virginia will play Stanford (30-1), which beat Arkansas 114-87 to set a West Region scoring record. Trisha Stevens led Stanford with 24 points, and Demonica DeHorney scored a career-high 39 points for the Razorbacks.
It also will be Stanford's first trip to the Final Four.
"This shows the parity this year," Ryan said. "Ten years ago, nobody would have thought it possible that a Stanford or a Virginia could go to the women's finals."
Two familiar opponents will meet in the other semifinal.
Unbeaten Louisiana Tech (32-0), which won the Midwest Region by beating Texas 71-57 at Austin, will play Auburn (27-6), which upset Washington 76-50 at Iowa City, Iowa, for the Mideast Region title.
Last year, Auburn eliminated the Lady Techsters in the national semifinals but lost to Tennessee in the title game. Two years ago, the Tigers lost to Tech in the title game.
by CNB