THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 26, 1995 TAG: 9503260463
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RANDY KING, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: STORRS, CONN. LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Virginia knocked the King Kong of women's college basketball to one knee Saturday.
But when the final bell of Saturday's NCAA East Region championship fight sounded, the beast was standing tall with arms raised.
Author of 32 consecutive knockouts this season, unbeaten and heretofore untested Connecticut collected itself in the second half and held on for a 67-63 decision over heavy underdog U.Va.
The victory earned UConn (33-0), the tournament's No. 1 seed, its second trip to the NCAA women's Final Four. The Huskies, who were beaten by the Cavaliers in the 1991 semifinals, will meet the West Region winner - Purdue or Stanford - in next Saturday's semifinals. The title game will be played next Sunday.
Geno Auriemma's Huskies head to Minnesota on the heels of the scare of their lives. U.Va. (27-5), thanks to an incredible 34-8 run in the final 10 minutes of the first half, was up seven at halftime (44-37) and led, 53-51, with 10 1/2 minutes to play.
``We had them where we wanted them,'' U.Va. coach Debbie Ryan said. ``We had them backpedaling a little bit, because I don't think they've been in that situation all year.''
After UConn countered with a 15-4 run the next six minutes to seemingly put U.Va. away, the Cavaliers got up off the canvas for one more punch.
Wendy Palmer, who had a game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds, scored six unanswered points to trim UConn's seemingly safe nine-point to 66-63 with 2:05 left.
Thanks to some good inside defense that forced three straight perimeter misses by UConn, U.Va. had three possessions to tie, but couldn't deliver.
The first two possession were blocked by UConn's 6-foot-7 Kara Wolters, who snuffed Palmer in the lane with 1:13 left, and 6-4 Rebecca Lobo, who rejected Jenny Boucek's layup attempt with 54 seconds showing.
The Cavs' third and last chance came with 19.6 seconds left. But U.Va.'s upset hopes ended when freshman Monick Foote was called for a five-second violation while trying to inbound the ball in UConn's end.
``I thought the best chance there was let Monick bring the ball in and run her for the 3,'' Ryan said. ``I thought Monick had the timeout in time. It was so loud in there I don't know if (official Art Bomengen) heard it. She was calling it first, then she had to signal it. I thought it was an awful quick five (seconds), but I'm not going to second guess one of the best officials in our game.''
UConn's Jamelle Elliott then floored U.Va., hitting 1 of 2 free throws with 18.1 seconds left to make it a four-point game.
Ryan said it was no consolation simply to come close against a UConn team that had crushed everything its in path before Saturday. The Huskies' closest call until Saturday was a 10-point win over Kansas in Kansas City in late January. UConn had pummeled its first 32 opponents by an average of 34.1 points per game.
``We honestly came in here thinking we could win,'' Ryan said. ``Psychologically, everything was in our favor. If you're going to hold Connecticut 23 points below its normal scoring average, you control the boards (43-41), you expect to win that game.''
That thought appeared impossible 10 minutes into the game. The Huskies bit the stunned Cavs with a 29-10 run to open the game. The UConn flurry was keyed by nine layups, most coming off transition after U.Va. missed shots, and back-to-back-to-back treys by Jennifer Rizzotti, Elliott and Carlo Berube.
Then, in one of the unlikeliest flip-flops in NCAA women's history, U.Va. proceeded to score 34 of the final 42 points of the half. The Cavs' sudden takeover was led by reserve forward Amy Lofstedt, who didn't miss a shot en route to 12 first-half points.
Surprised wasn't exactly the word to describe a UConn unit that had been unfamiliar with the term ``halftime deficit'' before Saturday.
``I don't know how we won the game; I don't know how Virginia lost. As well as they played for that 10-minute stretch . . . that's the best I've ever seen anybody play ever against us or anybody else,'' said Auriemma, a U.Va. assistant under Ryan from 1981-85. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, left, and her bench watch the final
minutes of the Cavaliers' 67-63 loss. U.Va. led top-seeded UConn,
44-37, at the half before bowing out.
by CNB