Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 7, 1994 TAG: 9403070017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCK HILL, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
Virginia women's basketball coach Debbie Ryan hardly knew how to act Sunday at the end of regulation.
Normally, the Cavaliers don't exchange handshakes with Maryland until the end of two or three overtimes.
Their latest meeting, however, was a relatively ho-hum affair, with UVa winning 63-45 in the semifinals of the ACC tournament at the Winthrop Coliseum.
"The way it started out, I thought we were going to have another close one," Ryan said. "When someone asked me [Saturday] what kind of game I expected, I said, `It's not a question of whether it goes into overtime but how many overtimes we play.' "
In last year's championship game, Virginia and Maryland played one of the most memorable games in ACC women's basketball history when the Cavaliers beat the Terrapins 106-103 in triple overtime. That was followed by this year's double-overtime game, won 86-83 by Virginia in College Park, Md.
Fourth-seeded Maryland (15-13) cut a seven-point deficit to 33-32 early in the second half Sunday, but Virginia (25-3) responded with a 13-0 run and was on its way to the championship game for the sixth time in eight years.
Top-seeded Virginia will play North Carolina, a 65-64 winner on Sunday over Clemson, for the championship today at 5:30 p.m. The Tar Heels (26-2) lost twice to UVa during the regular season.
"Nobody else gives us credit for that," said Ryan, whose team is ranked eighth in the Associated Press poll, three spots behind North Carolina. "So, it's no problem for us. We're still the underdogs. There's no question we're the underdogs."
Virginia has won four games in a row and 18 of its past 19 after holding Maryland to its lowest scoring output of the season. The Terrapins shot 34.5 percent and were 9-of-33 (27.3 percent) in the second half.
"Obviously, Virginia played a great game . . . very stifling defense," said Maryland coach Chris Weller, whom Ryan will attempt to join as the only coaches to win three consecutive ACC championships. "We couldn't get anything going. Every single thing that happened in the game could be attributed to Virginia's defense."
Bonnie Rimkus, a first-team All-ACC choice, missed all eight of her shots and was held scoreless for the first time this season. Rimkus, a 6-foot-4 senior, had been averaging nearly 19 points per game.
"I don't know if they did anything special on Bonnie," Weller said. "Sometimes you can shut down the leading scorer by shutting down the team."
Rimkus scored 26 points in the last meeting between the teams, prompting Ryan to change defensive assignments on the eve of the game. Amy Lofstedt, who on Sunday described herself as "nothing special" at the defensive end, was charged with guarding Rimkus.
"I was just trying to deny her the ball," Lofstedt said. "The way I figured, if she doesn't touch it, she can't score. I could tell she was getting frustrated during the second half and threw up some [desperation] shots. I knew she hadn't scored."
Rimkus was so ineffective that she came out of the game for five minutes while the outcome was still in doubt midway through the second half. The Cavaliers clogged the middle, daring Maryland to shoot 3-pointers, but the Terrapins attempted - and missed - only three shots behind the arc.
Virginia had a balanced offense in the second half, partly because freshman Tora Suber got the Terrapins' attention in the first half. Suber was 6-of-7 and scored 14 points in staking the Cavaliers to a 33-26 halftime lead.
Suber was content to serve as a decoy in the second half, after the Terrapins went to a box-and-one defense, but she still led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Sophomore Wendy Palmer was 6-of-7 to finish with 12 points. Jenny Boucek also scored 12.
"I was really impressed with the way we came out today," said Ryan, whose team trailed in the second half Saturday before beating eighth-seeded Wake Forest 73-54 in the quarterfinals. "We have not been a team that's come out and played well in back-to-back games."
Nevertheless, the Cavaliers have dominated one of the nation's strongest women's conferences, winning 26 of their past 27 games against ACC opposition.
"Once you've gone to the Final Four, it's an experience that's almost a season in itself," Weller said. "You can tell that [the Cavaliers] are a tournament team. They react well to a lot of different situations."
Ryan, who took Virginia to the women's Final Four in three seasons (1990, '91 and '92) wouldn't disagree with that assessment. It's almost forgotten now that UVa didn't win an ACC championship before 1990.
"Over the past five years, we've played in numerous close, close games, and we've won some and we've lost some," Ryan said. "We've learned a great deal from both winning and losing. That's been a big key to our success. It's just experience."
by CNB