Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503170053
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Even so, it wasn't long before Radford's overmatched players had a faraway look in their eyes.
Florida (24-8) was every bit as sharp and dangerous as the teeth of its Gator mascot, advancing to a meeting with host Virginia in the second round of the East Region at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at University Hall. The Cavaliers escaped with a 71-68 victory over Dartmouth.
Radford saw its four-game winning streak severed and finished its season with a 15-15 record.
``Florida is not a sixth seed,'' said Radford coach Lubomyr Lichonczak. ``They are much better than what they're seeded. ... They're very gifted.''
As was demonstrated convincingly at every turn. The Gators shot 51.4 percent from the floor, had 38 field goals (20 more than Radford), outrebounded the Highlanders 53-29 and forced 21 turnovers.
``Obviously, we had Radford outmanned,'' said Carol Ross, Florida's coach.
Ten players scored for the Gators, led by the outside-inside duo of guard Merlakia Jones and center DeLisha Milton, who scored 16 points each. Milton had 11 rebounds and Jones 10.
``When they double- and triple-teamed DeLisha inside, it opened it up for us outside,'' Jones said.
Murriel Page added 15 points and made all seven of her field-goal attempts for Florida.
The panic for Radford began in the first 1:25 of the game. It was then that Lichonczak called his first timeout to soothe a team that already was down 6-0 and had committed two of its 13 first-half turnovers.
The second of these came when guard Jennifer Goode dribbled off one of her feet, leading to a fast-break hoop by Takilya Davis.
There was a lot of that sort of unprovoked stuff, and there really was no accounting for it other than a severe case of frayed nerves.
Other Radford turnovers came from trying to force passes into sectors of the floor where there was nothing but white-shirted Florida defenders.
The results could have been predicted by any basketball clinician. The Gators scored 13 points off takeaways and 24 from the painted area of the floor in the first 20 minutes. The Highlanders, by contrast, had two points from a Florida giveaway and four from the paint.
Radford shot 23.3 percent before halftime and would have been even more embarrassed than it already was had not Goode made three of four 3-point attempts on the way to scoring 12 of her 14 points.
Jones and Milton combined for 22 points and six Gators scored as Florida ran up a 43-21 lead by the break.
Florida went on a 28-9 blitz in the first 10 minutes of the second half to seal the verdict. Nine of those points came on jumpers by point guard Dana Smith, left wide-open beyond the arc from either side of the key.
Goode denied intimidation was a factor.
``I thought of it as just another game,'' she said.
There was a little more to it than that, Lichonczak said.
``Jenny and our other senior, Nicole Gardiner, were fine, but they played at Purdue in the NCAA Tournament last year,'' he said. ``When you're being pressed, it takes all five players executing and that wasn't happening all the time.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
by CNB