Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 14, 1995 TAG: 9501160062
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
In front of 4,300 fans - the biggest crowd to ever witness a women's game at Cassell Coliseum - Tech ended 13 years of frustration against longtime nemesis Virginia, upsetting the ninth-ranked Cavaliers 69-62.
In a victory that should propel it into the Top 25, Tech (11-4) refused to lose against a school that's owned the Hokies since Feb.6, 1982. UVa (11-3) had beaten Tech 11 straight times.
``This is a good one. This is as good a win as we've had ... it's probably right up there with the Metro Conference championship [last year],'' said Tech coach Carol Alfano, who hugged nearly everybody in sight before the night was over.
``You're beating a very quality program, you're not just beating UVa's team. You're beating history and a program that's been established on the national level.
``It's a tribute to our kids and how hard they've worked. Many times they're signing All-Americans and we're signing all-state players and USA Today honorable-mention-type players and they're going out and maybe getting the player of the year.
``What a game! What an atmosphere! This sure is the `holy-cow' game when the people all look in their paper [today].''
Tech milked UVa down the stretch, outscoring the Cavs 13-6 in the final 2 minutes, 34 seconds to break from a 56-56 tie. Except for a key basket by senior Angela Donnell with 55 seconds left that made it 62-57, all the Hokies' points came at the free-throw line.
Tech, which hit 23 of 25 free throws, was 11 of 12 from the stripe in the final 2:07.
``I know I was having [North] Carolina flashbacks,'' said Tech senior center Jenny Root, referring to the Hokies' 57-52 loss to the defending national champion at Cassell on Dec.30.
``We should have won that game, and we didn't. Everybody has made the effort now that when we're in a situation where we're up, there is nothing that's going to stop us from winning it. Whatever it takes to win, that's what we were going to do.''
Everybody contributed for Tech. Senior Christi Osborne had 16 points, Donnell had 14 (on 6-of-7 shooting), Root 13 and junior Terri Garland 10, four of which came from the line in the final minute.
After trailing 31-28 at halftime, Tech took a 33-31 lead on Osborne's NBA-range 3-pointer with 17:59 left.
Tech, living off strong inside-help team defense, led most of the second half before UVa regained its final lead at 54-53 on 6-foot-6 Jeffra Gausepohl's offensive rebound with 3:10 left.
Osborne responded with another 3-pointer to put Tech up 56-54 with 2:48 showing. After UVa's Charleata Beale made a 10-footer to tie the score at 56, Tech took over.
While the Virginia offense unraveled in a sea of missed shots and turnovers, Tech kept getting fouled. The parade to the line only provided sweet string music for the Hokies.
For UVa, which hadn't lost to a state team since losing to Old Dominion in 1985 - a span of 20 games - the setback was tough to swallow.
``I am extremely disappointed with the way we played,'' said UVa coach Debbie Ryan, who spent 25 minutes in the locker room with her stunned troops after the game.
``Our players didn't respond well to instructions. But we have no excuses. They outplayed and outhustled us from top to bottom.''
Tech, which is now 2-2 against Top-25 foes this season, held UVa to a season-low shooting percentage. The Cavs hit 23 of 64 field-goal attempts (35.9 percent).
``They played very good defense,'' said UVa junior guard Jenny Boucek, who committed two costly turnovers in the final 2 minutes.
``We didn't make very good decisions. It was just a combination of our stupidity, our ignorance and their defense.''
UVa, which had its seven-game winning streak stopped, was led by Wendy Palmer's 15 points. Tora Suber had 11 and Gausepohl 10.
Besides the starters, Tech got valuable minutes out of Vinton's Sherry Banks and Martinsville's Cynthia Lee. Banks had six points in 18 minutes, and Lee had four rebounds in 15 minutes.
What's arguably the biggest win in the history of Tech's program didn't go undetected by the Hokies.
``It doesn't get any better than this,'' said Root, smiling. ``All I can remember is getting annihilated my sophomore year at Virginia. We got a little closer last year, now this. It sure feels nice.''
by CNB