Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 29, 1992 TAG: 9203290116
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
With Virginia's road to a third straight NCAA women's Final Four passing through the East Regional at University Hall, the top-ranked Cavaliers went from an early feast to famine against the Commodores.
The visitors were turning 3-pointers into gimmes and led 45-43 with 11:39 left when - perhaps while ESPN viewers were at the refrigerator during one of those two-minute TV timeouts - it dawned on the sport's best player that it was time for her entree.
It took less than two minutes for Dawn Staley to push the Cavaliers as only she can, and as she sometimes reluctantly does. Vandy was still in the game, but Staley's wake-up call alarmed the Commodores.
It also charged a capacity crowd of 8,715 that included Virginia Tech athletic director Dave Braine, whose applause for a rival school was perhaps rooted in appreciation and friendship and maybe a bit of wishful thinking.
"Dawn just makes things happen," said Vandy coach Jim Foster, a sideline director who could trade ID cards with Oliver Stone. "You can't fail to realize that, at any time. She makes great plays. She makes timely plays.
"She just does things great players do."
Foster, a Temple graduate who coached at St. Joseph's (Pa.) until this season, has been watching Staley's Philadelphia story for years. The 5-foot-5 senior tore the game from Vandy's 3-point launching arms, and handed it to Heather Burge, one of UVa's twin towers, for a 70-58 victory and a Final Four date next weekend in Los Angeles.
Staley may be the game's best woman driver, but she started her flurry with a 3-pointer from the left wing - her first in three NCAA games. After a Vandy miss, Staley went solo, the length of the court, for a layup.
Vandy's Shelley Jarrard tied it at 48 with another three, but Burge answered down low. Then, after a Commodore miss from beyond the arc, Staley went end-to-end again, keeping rather than dishing on a 3-on-2 break, for a four-point lead.
That was just two minutes of her 10-of-15, nine-assist, nine-rebound, championship-game day that got her voted the regional's outstanding player. Burge had better stats, but then, Staley shot only six times in Thursday's semifinal romp over West Virginia.
Typically, Staley tried to pass off her play, as she so often does the basketball to less-talented teammates and close friends who have forged a 78-7 record over the past 2 1/2 seasons.
"I was open on that three," Staley said. "I take what the defense gives me. On this team, one person can't really take over. We go to our strength, whatever that is at the time.
"If I did something there, it's because I've matured as a player. I realize what our team needs. Maybe it's 20 points or maybe it's 10 assists. Sometimes, it's cheering. What we need, I'll give."
Staley recalled her driving hoops by saying, "I had a few transition baskets. There's nothing hard about that."
It's the kind of transition baskets Staley scores, however. Her play is one of fluid transition from the men's game to the women's game, the sort of player who can manufacture the kind of memorable moments women's hoops hopes to ride to greater exposure in the 1990s.
Staley's high school coach at Dobbins Tech, Anthony Coma, had years before been Earl Monroe's high school coach. Is it fair that one man gets more than one pearl?
What the Cavaliers want is an NCAA title after losing last year's championship game in overtime to Tennessee. At 32-1, Ryan's team is two wins from accomplishing that mission.
They'll be playing the Final Four just down the highway from the Burges' backyard. If UVa intends to reach its desired destination, however, the Cavaliers better keep Staley driving.
by CNB