Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992 TAG: 9203010122
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Dawn Staley made two free throws with no time left on the clock Saturday to give Virginia's No. 1-ranked women's basketball team a 76-74 ACC victory over North Carolina State.
It wasn't exactly a repeat of last year's 123-120 triple-overtime victory, but Virginia (26-1 overall, 15-1 ACC) will take it.
So will the sport. The game was carried by CBS television, and, as N.C. State coach Kay Yow said, "We have an opportunity to gain fans with this quality of play. It helped women's basketball."
Virginia, which will be seeded No. 1 in the ACC Tournament at Rock Hill, S.C., will play the winner of the Duke-Wake Forest game Saturday at 6 p.m.
UVa coach Debbie Ryan said she was concerned about this game, "because we really had nothing to play for."
And N.C. State, despite a sixth-place finish in the tough ACC, was a formidable foe. The Wolfpack (16-11, 7-9) beat third-ranked Maryland here Tuesday.
Dominating rebounding (45-25) kept Virginia ahead most of the way, but 23 turnovers, mostly unforced, kept Ryan biting her lip on the bench.
Ahead by 12 points at 49-37, Virginia fell behind 59-58 before Tammi Reiss hit a 3-pointer.
But N.C. State's tandem of Rhonda Mapp, who had 32 points to tie a career-high, and Tammy Gibson (23, including five 3-pointers) kept the Wolfpack close.
Gibson hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to cut UVa's lead to 74-73, then Dena Evans missed her first free throw with the Cavs in the bonus.
Mapp, a 6-foot-3 senior center, was fouled by Heidi Burge, her fifth, with 13.4 seconds left.
Ryan called a timeout "to freeze Mapp," and it partially worked. Mapp tied the score but missed the second free throw.
Virginia worked the ball, and Evans shot with a couple of seconds left. It missed, bouncing off the hands of Heather Burge and right to Staley under the basket. Staley was fouled by Teri Whyte just before the buzzer.
"I was so excited, I don't remember the foul," Staley said. "I was just in the right place at the right time. I didn't know if we'd get the call."
There was no pressure, said last year's national player of the year.
"The game was tied. Even if I didn't make either one, we had a chance in overtime," Staley said.
Staley, an 81 percent free-throw shooter for her career, made them both.
"That's why she's who she is," said Yow. "That's just Dawn Staley." \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB