ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 17, 1997 TAG: 9703180109
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES
Strong bench play helps Virginia clinch a spot in the region semifinals for the 11th straight year.
Nobody was more excited about Virginia's placement in the women's West Regional than forward Lisa Hosac.
And, she played like it Sunday night.
Hosac, a freshman from Littleton, Colo., scored all 13 of her points in the second half as UVa defeated Utah 65-46 and earned a trip to the region semifinals in Missoula, Mont.
``When the brackets were announced, everybody else was like, `Montana?''' Hosac said. ``I was ecstatic. I really wanted to go back west.''
Hosac never has been to Missoula, but she has been to Montana and has two brothers in the Boise, Idaho, area. She said her mother and stepfather would drive up from Denver, a trip of about 600 miles.
Even though they will be away from the arena where they've won 18 of their past 19 tournament games, the rest of the Cavaliers are just happy to be in the round of 16 - for the 11th straight year. Utah (25-6) came into the game with 20 victories in its previous 22 games, including its first NCAA Tournament victory Friday night.
UVa (23-7) trailed 16-12 before going on a 14-0 run midway through the first half. Utah never got closer than seven the rest of the way, but the Cavaliers had problems pulling away.
It was 55-44 when Hosac missed the second of two free throws with 4:16 left to play. Renee Robinson forced a held ball on the rebound, the Cavaliers retained possession and Hosac hit a 3-pointer to give UVa a 15-point lead.
It was the second 3-pointer of the game and third of the season for Hosac, who was 0-for-8 from behind the arc until she connected Friday night against Troy State. For the two games, she was 9-for-9 from the field.
``I used to shoot 'em all the time in high school,'' said Hosac, a first-team Parade All-American. ``I was taking some in our shootaround the other day and Monick [Foote] said, `You won't make one.' I took that as a challenge.''
It was the second straight 13-point night for Hosac, who previously did not have back-to-back double-figure scoring games. She was averaging 3.8 points prior to the NCAA Tournament.
``It's critical for us to get scoring from our bench, especially now in the absence of Tiffany Bower,'' UVa coach Debbie Ryan said. ``It's important that we get the same kind of numbers that we had prior to Tiffany going out.''
Bower, the Cavaliers' top reserve, suffered a torn Achilles tendon in practice Thursday and underwent surgery the next day. She sat on the bench in an ankle-to-hip cast and watched the UVa subs score 25 points.
``I thought we played well on defense,'' said coach Elaine Elliott, whose Utes were allowing only 57.7 points per game. ``The difference was, we could not score.''
It might have been a rout early if the Cavaliers had not committed 18 turnovers. UVa can't afford many mistakes in its next game, against the winner of today's game between Stanford and Texas Tech. NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. Virginia used defense like the kindby CNBprovided by Mimi McKinney (21), Lesley Brown (4) and Kate Mooney
(10) to stifle Utah on Sunday.