Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 23, 1992 TAG: 9203230111
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
No, the Cavaliers weren't the same team Sunday that edged Georgia Tech in the ACC championship.
They were better.
In a return to the kind of domination that marked its early season play, No. 1-ranked UVa routed George Washington 97-58 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Cavaliers, who were awarded a first-round bye as the No. 1-seeded team in the East Regional, advanced to a regional semifinal game Thursday night against West Virginia, which defeated Clemson 73-72.
The regional will be held at University Hall, where a crowd of 7,300 watched Sunday as Virginia fell behind 5-2, then outscored the Colonials 22-2, with the last 15 points in a row.
UVa, which had an 11-0 run later in the first half and a 13-0 second-half spurt, has a 30-1 record. George Washington (25-7) had lost only two other games by more than three points.
"The way Virginia played, I don't know if anybody could have beaten them," George Washington coach Joe McKeown said. "We can play with [the best] people, but they just took us out of everything."
The Cavaliers forced 17 turnovers in taking a 48-23 halftime lead and led by 43 points despite removing all of their starters with more than five minutes left.
"I'd have to say, defensively, it's as well as we've played all season," senior guard Tammi Reiss said. "Sometime during the season, our press became non-existent, but it wasn't today."
The Cavaliers weren't too shabby offensively, either, shooting 58.2 percent from the field. Reiss led the way with 22 points, and 6-foot-5 junior Heidi Burge added a season-high 20.
Junior guard Dena Evans, whose 6.4-point average is the lowest of the UVa seniors, hit all six of her field-goal attempts and went 4-for-5 on free throws for 16 points, her season high.
"I've been talking to Debbie about becoming more of a threat offensively," Evans said, "but I still took only six shots. They all just happened to go in."
Two-time ACC player of the year Dawn Staley had only four field-goal attempts, one in the second half, but finished with nine assists.
"I'm not worried about Dawn," UVa coach Debbie Ryan said. "She's the kind of player who can take two shots today, have a week off, and then come out and score 50 points. She does whatever it takes.
"She gets much more enjoyment out of Heather and Heidi [the Burges] getting off to a good start."
Heather Burge had 16 points and 12 rebounds and joined with her sister in shutting down George Washington's Mary K. Nordling, who had 28 points Wednesday night in the Colonials' 70-69 victory over previously unbeaten Vermont.
Nordling, most valuable player in the Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament, was held to two points in the first half Sunday and finished with 13 before fouling out with 7:59 left.
The Colonials got in early foul trouble, sending Virginia into the bonus with 12:57 left in the first half, then resorted to desperation fouling as the game got out of reach.
Virginia, making 66.9 percent of its free throws this year, was 31-of-39 for 79.5 percent against the Colonials. The only area in which UVa was not at peak form was ball-handling, although the Cavaliers had fewer turnovers (23) than the Colonials (27).
"My biggest concern today was how we were going to approach this game after a 12-day layoff, [but] I felt we practiced well all week," Ryan said.
It was the Cavaliers' 10th victory of the season by more than 30 points, but four of UVa's past nine games had been decided by four points or fewer.
"When you're seeing some of these teams for the third time, they know all of your tendencies," Reiss said. "I'm glad we won't be playing Clemson again. I'm looking forward to some new faces."
In West Virginia, however, the Cavaliers will be meeting a team they trounced 92-63 in the second game of the season.
"That was a long time ago [Nov. 23]," Ryan said. "I don't think Tammi was referring to which team is tougher, West Virginia or Clemson, because you can tell from the score that they're pretty close.
"But whenever you're playing an ACC opponent for the third or fourth time, that's a little bit much. We look forward to playing different teams in this tournament." \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB