Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 24, 1991 TAG: 9103240210
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK BABINECK SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: AUSTIN, TEXAS LENGTH: Medium
But this time Goliath won, 85-70.
The top-seeded Cavaliers (30-2) stayed in control for most of the game behind the passing of guard Dawn Staley, who had 12 assists, and the shooting of senior forward Tonya Cardoza, who had a game-high 24 points.
Virginia will make its second Final Four appearance in as many seasons next week in New Orleans against Connecticut.
Despite impressive offensive numbers, including a 52.3 field-goal percentage, defense was vital to the Cavaliers' cause. The Lady Cardinals (29-4), who are accustomed to outgunning their opponents, were held to 43.3 percent field-goal shooting, and 3-point specialist Brenda Hatchett was limited to eight points.
Hatchett, who averaged 18.3 points per game during the season, was neutralized from long distance all night, hitting two of six 3-point attempts. Virginia defenders succeeded in applying pressure to the 5-foot tall guard for most of the game, something Cavaliers coach Debbie Ryan had said her team needed to do to win.
"You have to credit Tammi Reiss [for containing Hatchett]," said Ryan, who coached her 300th career victory. "I thought Brenda was going to be a real key tonight. If you hold her under 10 points, you're taking away a big part of their scoring offense."
Lamar coach Al Barbre echoed Ryan's sentiments, saying that the performance of the Virginia backcourt was some of the finest perimeter play he seen this season.
"Cardoza had an outstanding game," he said. "If you put Staley, Reiss, and Cardoza out there, you have three outstanding players."
Reserve guard Barbara Hickey led the Lady Cardinals with 15.
The Cavaliers had their widest margin midway through the second period when a Heidi Burge layup put Virginia in front by 17 points.
For the next five minutes, the Lady Cardinals staged their last stand, whittling away at the deficit until a Hatchett 3-pointer closed the gap to 74-65. The shot brought much of the largely pro-Lamar Erwin Center crowd of 5,259 to its feet, but that was as close as it got.
Cardoza proceeded to run down the court for two layups in a span of 20 seconds that quieted the spectators and clinched the victory.
Ryan said she has more confidence in this year's Cavaliers than those she took to the Final Four last year, only to fall to eventual champion Stanford.
"There is no question that this team is more mature," she said. "This year is much different, and it's an honor to be a part of it. I feel really good about this team."
Reiss said the positioning of the Cavaliers as favorites rather than underdogs this NCAA Tournament has given them an added pressure to perform.
"Lamar was the Cinderella team this year like we were last year," she said. "But we're going to the ball. That's our glass slipper, and we're going after it."
Cardoza concurred with her teammate, expressing bigger aspirations in her last year at Virginia.
"Our goal is to win the national championship," she said. "I'm happy [about defeating Lamar], but we're going after something bigger."
Though Virginia maintained the upper hand for a majority of the first half, Lamar kept close except for one lapse midway through the period.
With 10:42 left until halftime, the Lady Cardinals' Jojuana Rogers converted a pass from Hickey into an layup to tie the score at 16. Up to that point, the largest lead the Cavaliers had was a briefly held five-point advantage.
Seconds later, Cardoza sank a 3-pointer from the baseline, beginning a 9-0 run that took less than two minutes to mount. In that stretch, Cardoza got six of the points, and the Cavaliers held on to the lead for the remainder of the game.
Cardoza, Reiss, and Staley were selected to the to the all-regional team, and Staley took outstanding player honors. Delmonica DeHorney of Arkansas and Hatchett rounded out the team.
see microfilm for box score
by CNB