Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 26, 1993 TAG: 9303260226
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
BURGES CARRY UVA PAST HOYAS
As far as Georgetown is concerned, it's the "dirge" twins.Virginia's 6-foot-5 pair of drop-stepping ladies, Heather and Heidi Burge, danced the Hoyas out the Richmond Coliseum door Thursday to the grave music of a 77-57 rout in an NCAA women's basketball tournament East Region semifinal.
Virginia missed a few beats in the first five minutes but caught the rhythm of Georgetown's pressing defense and strolled into a Saturday morning meeting with Ohio State for the right to a Final Four berth April 3 in Atlanta.
Heidi's first-half defensive presence helped the Cavaliers steady their knocking knees, and Heather's second-half scoring in the post drowned out any Hoyas effort. Heather said UVa spread its offense in the second half.
"That opened me up to have some one-on-one opportunities which I didn't have in the first half," she said. "It seemed to be working."
The Cavs led 18-17 with 6:42 left in the first half, then outscored Georgetown 34-14 over the next 12:22 to lead 52-31 with 14:20 left in the game. Virginia's soundtrack included a 15-2 spurt to open the second half, with Heather Burge contributing nine points. She finished with 21 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes; her sister had nine points and nine rebounds.
Georgetown's short front line - its tallest starter is 5-11 - offered little resistance. Virginia's serenade got more hostile for Georgetown when 6-2 freshman Wendy Palmer entered; she had 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting to go with seven rebounds.
"There was no way we could stop those tall girls," said guard Kris Witfill, the Big East Conference player of the year who was the only Hoya in double figures Thursday.
Virginia (26-5) led by 26 late in the second half in ending the season for Georgetown (23-7), which was playing its first NCAA tourney.
The Hoyas shot only 30 percent from the field, cutting down their chances to press, and were outrebounded 48-32. Leni Wilson, Georgetown's best inside player, missed 10 of her 14 shots - at least four were air balls - and guard Niki Reid was 1-for-6.
"I told my team for three days, execution to put points on the board was the key, because then you could screw around defensively quite a bit," Hoyas coach Pat Knapp said. "A lot of those sweeping hook shots [we took] are nightmares right now."
The ninth-ranked Cavaliers are trying for their fourth straight Final Four appearance, which would tie the record held by Louisiana Tech (1987-90) and Tennessee (1986-89). Stanford, in the West Region, also is shooting for its fourth straight Final Four berth.
Virginia has won 12 in a row; unranked Georgetown had won 11 of its previous 12, including an upset of eight-ranked Penn State in the tournament.
In Thursday's first semifinal, third-ranked Ohio State rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to beat No. 13 Western Kentucky 86-73. The Hilltoppers (24-7) were national runners-up last year to Stanford.
Ohio State (26-3), making its first NCAA trip in three years, is the East's top-seeded team. The Buckeyes and UVa meet for the regional title at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Virginia, in its 10th straight NCAA Tournament, made its seventh Sweet 16 appearance - more than any team remaining in the East Region. The Cavaliers 16-9 in tournament play.
Georgetown's full-court pressure and run-and-jump traps rattled UVa, which trailed 10-6 with 15:18 left, by which time UVa had four turnovers. Georgetown's Reid and Nadira Ricks forced UVa to hurry.
"They were the quickest guards I've faced, maybe in four years," UVa point guard Dena Evans said. "They wore me out. It was just a matter of getting used to their pressure. They were like gnats out there."
The Cavs calmed down and tied the score at 11 on an Evans layup at the back of Georgetown's press. \
see microfilm for box score
Memo: a slightly different version ran in the New River edition.