VIRGINIA WOMEN'S BITE WORSE THAN GATORS' 69-55

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 22, 1993                   TAG: 9303220037
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium
VIRGINIA WOMEN'S BITE WORSE THAN GATORS' 69-55
Virginia's women's basketball team battened down to beat back a storm on Sunday.
The Cavaliers boarded up University Hall and reduced a feared Florida gale to a gentle breeze, beating the Gators 69-55 in an NCAA Tournament East Region second-round game before 5,740 spectators.
UVa coach Debbie Ryan convinced her players that Florida - shooting less than 42 percent from the field but averaging almost 75 points per game - could sock the Cavs at almost any time. So Virginia outrebounded Florida by 16, held the Gators to 18 first-half points and never stopped believing Florida was about to rise up.
These Gators, however, had dull teeth - they never scored more than six unanswered points. UVa's Jenny Boucek, who had a career-high 15 rebounds, said the Cavs wanted to stop Florida's penetration, win the rebounding battle and cut off Florida's running game.
"Debbie said before the game, `They do get hot,' " Boucek said.
They never did, and Virginia won its 25th straight game at U-Hall and its 15th all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers, who hadn't played since winning the ACC Tournament title on March 8, took a step toward their fourth straight Final Four appearance.
The ninth-ranked Cavaliers (25-5), second seed in the East Region, face Georgetown at the Richmond Coliseum on Thursday either at 6:30 p.m. or a half-hour after the 6:30 game is over.
Georgetown (23-6) upset the East's No.3-seed Penn State on Saturday, perhaps softening UVa's trip to the regional final, where its likely opponent would be top-seeded Ohio State, a 91-84 winner over the Cavs on Jan.2 in Columbus, Ohio.
Only five Florida players scored, and the Gator bench contributed three points - a bonus shot by Kelly Cremeans with the game decided. Virginia, meanwhile, got 23 points and 14 rebounds from its bench - 12 points and six rebounds from freshman Wendy Palmer, playing with a stress fracture in her right ankle.
Center Heather Burge became UVa's all-time leader in rebounds (she has 935 to Cathy Grimes' 932) and became the second player in school history (joining Dawn Staley) to score more than 2,000 points in her career (she has 2,007).
Florida ended its first-ever trip to the NCAAs with a 19-10 record and teary eyes. It took Bridget Pettis 27 shots to score 25 points, and three of her four 3-pointers came in the last 7:45, when the Cavaliers led by 18.
The Gators tossed up any old shot in the first eight minutes, missing their first five from the field and going 1-for-13 while Virginia built a 13-2 lead.
"From what I've heard, that's how they play," Boucek said. "They're so athletic, they're going to hit a lot of off-balance, Michael Jordan, funky layups. That's what they want."
Not exactly.
"I didn't see much shot selection," Florida coach Carol Ross said. "It's difficult to score when you're taking shots you haven't taken all year."
Virginia entered the game with the nation's fourth-longest home winning streak, but couldn't count on it to jinx Florida. Three times this season - against Arkansas, South Carolina and Bowling Green on Wednesday in the NCAA first round - Florida had sullied a team's unbeaten home record.
"What we went through in Bowling Green . . . was probably even worse, fan-wise," Pettis said. "I've never been nervous. I just didn't play good, and we didn't play good."
Florida's 55 points were a season-low, its 18 first-half points were its second-lowest this year, and its 30.6 shooting percentage was its worst since the season-opener.
UVa wasn't fluid, either. Small spurts carried the Cavs, such as a 9-4 run in the second half that stretched the edge from 41-28 to 50-32 with 8:19 left.
Six points from Pettis brought Florida to 50-38 with 7:19 left.
"I was just trying to pick up the team," she said. "But time kept ticking and they kept rebounding."
\ NOTE: For information on tickets to the NCAA Women's East Region semifinals and final at the Richmond Coliseum, call the Virginia Commonwealth University ticket office at 804-367-1277. Tickets for the three games are $12 for lower reserved and $8 for upper reserved. Single game tickets go on sale the day of the semifinals for $6 and $4. \
see microfilm for box score

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB