THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 1996 TAG: 9603260441
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DOUG DOUGHTY, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
Virginia won't have many opportunities to reach the women's basketball Final Four better than the one it let slip away Monday.
The Cavaliers, playing in front of their home fans, couldn't hold onto a 17-point second-half lead and fell to Tennessee 52-46 in the East Region women's basketball championship game.
``I will definitely look at this as a game we should have won,'' U.Va. coach Debbie Ryan after the Cavaliers' ninth defeat in 10 games against the Lady Vols and seventh in postseason play.
Tennessee (30-4) scored the first basket of the game and never led again until freshman Chamique Holdsclaw hit a jump hook to make it 44-43 with 2:27 left. U.Va. had led 31-14 with less than 17 minutes remaining.
``We've never had a comeback in postseason quite like our second-half comeback today,'' Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. ``It's one of the gutsiest performances I've ever been associated with in March Madness.''
The Lady Vols, advancing to the Final Four for the ninth time in the 15 years there has been a women's NCAA Tournament, trailed 27-14 after a first half in which they shot 6 of 32 (18.8 percent) from the field.
``I simply don't think we could have played any better defensively in the first half,'' Ryan said. ``When was the last time Tennessee was held to 14 points in a half? I mean, let's get real. I was shocked.''
The Lady Vols had not scored fewer than 20 points in a half all season, and the 14 points were the all-time low in a women's NCAA regional. Indeed, the 98 combined points were the third-lowest in the history of the tournament.
If the Cavaliers (26-7) hadn't shot 37.1 percent and committed nine turnovers in the first half, they might have led by 20 or more. Summitt said she was relieved to be down by only 13.
``I told our players, `For our program and all the teams that have gone before you, please play with pride and keep it close,' '' Summitt said.
Tennessee's comeback did not begin immediately. The Lady Vols missed their first five shots of the second half, and after U.Va. center Wendy Palmer hit a long jumper and freshman DeMya Walker scored on a follow shot, the Cavaliers had their biggest lead of the game.
The Lady Vols proceeded to hit their next six shots in closing the deficit to 33-27, and U.Va. was reeling after Jenny Boucek picked up her fourth foul with 13:18 left and, then, backcourt mate Tora Suber was injured with 12:25 left.
``I felt the difference in the game was when Jenny came out with her fourth foul and I couldn't use her to defend Latina Davis,'' Ryan said. ``I could have used Tora, but she was hurt before you knew it.''
Virginia was to build its lead to 40-30, but Davis went to work on reserve Mimi McKinney, scoring eight straight points as the Lady Vols cut the deficit to 43-38 with 5:44 remaining.
By that point, Suber had re-entered the game. After being helped from the floor, she sat for several minutes with an ice pack strapped to her right knee and then left for the locker room to be fitted for a brace.
``She was definitely more tentative after that,'' Tennessee guard Michelle Marciniak said. ``I could just look in her eyes and just see she wasn't 100 percent. I could see she'd been crying and wasn't really into the game.''
After Tiffany Johnson scored on a stickback with 1:26 remaining, Suber committed back-to-back turnovers, the second as she was dribbling downcourt and Marciniak knocked the ball away from behind.
Suber, who had 11 points in the first 11:37 of the first half, did not score again before hitting a desperation jumper with 12.5 seconds left in the game. She was not alone during a second half in which the Cavaliers were 7 of 33 (21.2 percent).
``It still hasn't set in that we lost,'' said Palmer, a two-time ACC player of the year, who finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. ``But I knew we couldn't come out and expect them to roll over. All good teams are going to make a run.''
The Lady Vols, who had not previously played Virginia at University Hall, shot 53.6 percent in the second half and outrebounded the Cavaliers 26-18 after intermission. U.Va. had a 28-20 rebounding edge in the first half, when it had 10 offensive rebounds.
``We left it all out there,'' said Palmer, who played 36 minutes despite a injured hip that sent her to the locker room for treatment before the first half ended. ``There's nothing else to be done and nothing else to be said.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color AP photo
U.Va.'s Tora Suber leaps over the Lady Vols' Latina Davis.
Virginia led 27-14 at halftime.
by CNB