Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 31, 1991 TAG: 9103310149
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Medium
Staley, a consensus choice for national player of the year, made only three of 16 shots and had to be rested several times in the closing minutes because of leg cramps.
The Cavaliers squandered most of a 14-point halftime lead, but held on to defeat Connecticut 61-55 and advance to today's championship game with Tennessee.
Tipoff will be at 4:05 p.m., which should help Staley, who did not have breakfast Saturday morning and has had problems eating and sleeping since the team arrived Wednesday.
"They haven't really figured out what causes [the cramps]," Staley said, "but this whole week has been dragging along. It seems like a year."
Virginia and Connecticut tipped off Saturday at 11:35 a.m. CST.
"This was pretty early," Staley said. "I don't usually eat breakfast. It was too close to game time to keep something down. [But] I don't think it's from not eating. I'm just so emotional right now."
Fellow guard Tammi Reiss, who rooms with Staley, said her junior classmate has some unusual eating habits during normal times.
"Her diet isn't the best in the world," Reiss said. "She has a very weak stomach. It's hard for her to eat a lot and drink a lot.
"Sometimes, I don't know how she steps on the floor. There are days when she really doesn't eat anything."
Reiss says she has been reluctant to say anything to Staley, but that might change.
"I'm going to force bananas down her throat if I have to," Reiss said, "but when you've got the best player in the country, you don't mess with her."
\ Virginia's men's team is in need of a point guard with the departure of John Crotty, but Staley doesn't think she could play for the Cavaliers - or any of the other 295 Division I men's teams.
"I just think guys are so much quicker than girls," said Staley, who is 5 feet 5 and 135 pounds. "I don't know if I could play on a Division I guys team because they're so quick and strong."
Staley has a good perspective on the matter because she frequently plays pick-up basketball with men when she returns to her native Philadelphia.
"I'm a different player when I play with guys," she said. "I will very rarely take shots when I'm playing with guys. I look to pass the ball when I play with guys because I can't really do anything else."
\ The semifinals of the NCAA Women's Tournament were televised everywhere in the country but New Orleans, where a blackout was imposed when the games did not sell out by noon Friday.
A crowd of 7,931 was announced for the semifinals, although the seats did not begin to fill until Tennessee fans arrived for the second game between the Lady Vols and Stanford. Capacity at Lakefront Arena is 9,000.
Stephen F. Austin coach Gary Blair underscored some of the problems facing women's basketball in his news conference after the Ladyjacks' 74-72 loss to Virginia in the second round.
"In women's basketball, we're going to get there," Blair said, "but, my gosh, how do you like to turn on ESPN and never see our scores. All they've got to do is run the [score].
"Somebody's got to give and you can start with the major networks [not] just showing games at the end. We've got to have national coverage all year."
\ Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said it's no secret why programs that once dominated - schools like Immaculata and even Old Dominion to some extent - have ceased to become a factor nationally.
"It's money," Auriemma said. "Most of those programs were small schools operating on shoestring budgets. Immaculata paid [coach] Kathy Rush in rosary beads.
"Look at how many of your top women's programs - like Auburn and Tennessee - are at schools with big-time football programs. Football underwrites the non-revenue sports."
\ Today's Virginia-Tennessee final will mark the second time the Cavaliers and Volunteers have met in New Orleans since Christmas. Tennessee defeated UVa 23-22 in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.
One omen in Tennessee's favor is the odd-year theory. The Lady Vols, making their third appearance in the final, won the NCAA women's championship in 1987 and '89.
Pat Summitt, in her 17th year as Tennessee coach, leads Division I coaches in tournament games (40), wins (33) and winning percentage (.825). The Lady Vols have made the Final Four five times in the past six years.
by CNB