Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 12, 1992 TAG: 9202120297
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: COLLEGE PARK, MD. LENGTH: Medium
CAVS TOPPLE TERPS
The story of Tuesday night's matchup between the nation's top two women's basketball teams was written before the opening tap.It almost seemed anticlimactic when Maryland's Jesse Hicks missed a baseline jumper at the buzzer, allowing Virginia to come away with a 75-74 victory at sold-out Cole Field House.
The official attendance was 14,500, but many more were standing three- and four-deep around the concourse in a building that never had seated more than 3,414 for women's basketball.
Sales to the public were cut off at 11 a.m., and scalpers were getting $25 for tickets outside the gate. Once the game started, nobody else was allowed in the building.
It was the largest crowd ever to watch an ACC game and exceeded the attendance (13,970) for Maryland's previous 11 home games combined.
"Our goal is to pack the house wherever we go," Virginia senior Tammi Reiss said. "Nobody else has done it here. These people came to see Maryland, but they also came to see us. Let me tell you, it was an awesome feeling."
Top-ranked Maryland came into the game with an 11-game winning streak, including a 67-65 victory Jan. 15 at Virginia. The Cavaliers, ranked second, had won seven in a row.
Virginia (21-1 overall, 11-1 ACC) never trailed in the second half. Maryland is 20-2 and 10-1.
"It really doesn't mean anything," said UVa senior Dawn Staley, national player of the year in 1990-91. "It's just a regular-season game. I'm sure we'll meet again sometime."
A loss likely would have cost UVa a chance at the regular-season ACC title.
Maryland had two chances to take the lead in the closing minute, but, with 20 seconds left, 5-foot-5 UVa guard Dena Evans blocked a 20-foot jumper by the Terps' Limor Mizrachi. It was Evans' first block in two seasons.
Virginia got the ball to Staley, who was fouled with 11.1 seconds remaining. Staley, an 84 percent free-throw shooter, missed the front end of a bonus opportunity.
"I would have bet my life on her making that shot," Reiss said.
Maryland got the ball to Mizrachi, who drove the right of the lane, only to pull up when a whistle sounded a Terps' timeout with 2.1 seconds left.
"I was surprised because it looked to me like everything was in a shambles," UVa coach Debbie Ryan said. "But it looked like the [timeout] call may have come from the bench."
Maryland coach Chris Weller said she tried to call the timeout with five or six seconds on the clock, but several seconds went by before the officials recognized her.
When play resumed, the Terps passed from midcourt to Hicks, who was guarded by UVa's Audra Smith. Smith got a hand on the ball, but Hicks still got off a 10-foot baseline jumper that bounced off the front rim.
The Cavaliers were led by 6-foot-5 junior center Heather Burge, who had a game-high 24 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Staley finished with 19 points and nine assists.
Dafne Lee led the Terrapins with 23 points, making nine of 10 free throws, and 12 rebounds. Malissa Boles had 20 points, but Maryland was victimized by 21 turnovers.
\ see microfilm for box score