Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 26, 1992 TAG: 9203260144
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"If I were a betting man," said Davis, the women's basketball coach at Clemson, "I'd bet that Virginia will win by 20, 25, 30 [points]. I could see it being a 40-point game."
Understand, Davis is coming off a 73-72 loss to West Virginia that he termed "one of the most bitter" of his 25 years in coaching. Clemson never trailed until Anna Tillman hit a 12-foot jump shot with 11 seconds left.
"I don't think there's any question we're 15 points better [than West Virginia]," Davis said. "West Virginia will be at a tremendous height disadvantage and their bench strength is nothing like Virginia's. They have one player who would get playing time at Virginia."
Davis was referring to Rosemary Kosiorek, a 5-foot-5 senior guard who scored 22 points against Clemson and averages 24.2. Kosiorek also leads the team with 197 assists. Davis said "she has the ball in her hand about 60 [to] 65 percent of the time."
Virginia coach Debbie Ryan admitted the Cavaliers were unable to contain Kosiorek in an earlier meeting, when she scored a game-high 25 points against UVa in the championship game of the Cavalier Classic on Nov. 23.
UVa won that game 92-63, but West Virginia's only other losses were by one point. The Mountaineers (26-3) won 22 games in a row before falling to Duquesne 63-62 in the final of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
West Virginia and top-ranked Virginia (30-1) will meet at 9 tonight at University Hall in Charlottesville. The other semifinal will pit Miami (30-1) and Vanderbilt (21-8) at 6:30 p.m.
Less than 1,000 tickets remained Wednesday night.
Virginia advanced with a 97-58 romp over George Washington, a team the Mountaineers defeated 80-61 and 61-60 during regular-season Atlantic 10 play. The second game was one of only two games closer than seven points during West Virginia's lengthy winning streak.
West Virginia coach Scott Harrelson is optimistic the Mountaineers will be more competitive in their second game with Virginia, partly because of the availability of two players who did not play in the first game, senior forward Donna Abbott and top reserve Jodie Runner.
"I think it has to be an advantage [that] they beat us so badly the last time we played them," Harrelson said. "It's got to give them a little confidence, a little too much confidence maybe.
"A player sitting on their bench who never gets to play for them we recruited heavily. Their talent level is far superior to ours and what we have to do is overcome it with heart and desire just like we have all year."
West Virginia trailed 9-0 to start the game against Clemson and it was 26-8 before the Mountaineers started their comeback before a crowd of 8,628, the record for a first- or second-round game in the East Region.
Clemson center Shany Bryan had four fouls in the first half, two other starters had three and the Tigers played the last 4:50 with their third-string point guard. West Virginia shot 30 free throws to the Tigers' 14.
"To put it mildly, we got ripped," Davis said.
The Virginia players said they did not look forward to playing Clemson, but that was because of the familiarity the ACC teams have developed for each other. It was the Tigers who upset Virginia in the 1991 ACC semifinals, one of two losses for UVa in the last last 38 conference games.
by CNB