Singletary's 3
U.Va.'s star guard is state's top player for third straight year
Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008 - 12:07 AM
By PAUL WOODY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Only Sean Singletary can say whether returning to the University of Virginia for his senior season was the best thing for his career.

One thing is certain. Playing his senior year for the Cavaliers permitted Singletary to make TimesDispatch history.

The 6-0 guard has been named the state's college player of the year by The Times-Dispatch panel of writers and editors for the third consecutive season.

Only one other player holds that distinction, Ralph Sampson, also a University of Virginia product.

Singletary's selection allows him to pass Jeff Lamp and Bryant Stith, also Virginia players, as two-time winners.

"It's an honor, definitely an honor," Singletary told The T-D's Jeff White. "But I wish we could have done a lot better. Most of those guys went to the [NCAA] tournament more than once and had great success with their teams.

"I'm honored to be named in the same breath as those guys, but I think they did a lot more than I did."

The man who directed a team that did much better than expected has been selected as The T-D's coach of the year.

Experts predicted that Seth Greenberg's Virginia Tech Hokies would finish near the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Instead, the Hokies finished fourth, reached the semifinals of the ACC tournament and just missed getting an NCAA bid. They were selected for the NIT.

"This has been a fun year," Greenberg said to The T-D's Darryl Slater. "I think I've learned more about them. They've learned more about me. I've learned how to figure out ways to get them to better respond and empower them and give them confidence.

"You need good players to win games. We've got good players."

Joining Singletary on the first unit of the T-D all-state team are Eric Maynor of VCU, Reggie Williams of VMI, Will Thomas of George Mason and A.D. Vassallo of Virginia Tech.

Singletary, Williams and Maynor were unanimous selections. Thomas was one vote short of unanimous. Williams and Maynor also are repeat selections from 2007.

The second-team members are Folarin Campbell of George Mason, Dan Geriot of Richmond, Jamal Shuler from VCU, Brad Byerson from Virginia Union and Deron Washington of Virginia Tech.

Singletary averaged 19.8 points and 5.1 assists this season.

"Most of my goals were based on the winning part, not the individual accomplishments," Singletary said. "We got to the [NCAA] tournament once and the NIT once, so I wish I could have been a lot more successful."

The Cavaliers played in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational this season.

Williams, a 6-6 forward from Prince George High School, led the nation in scoring for the second consecutive season. He averaged 27.8 points in VMI's high-powered offensive attack.

Maynor was the leading scorer on a VCU team that compiled a 24-8 record on the way to a decisive first-place finish in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Maynor, a junior, now must decide whether to stay or turn pro, the same situation Singletary faced a year ago.

Also receiving votes and earning honorable mention are Rashad West [Hampton], Laimis Kisielius [William and Mary], Kevin Anderson [Richmond], Tony Murphy [Norfolk State], Chavis Holmes [VMI], Gerald Lee [Old Dominion] and Abdulai Jalloh [James Madison].

 

Crowd gives Cavaliers a lift
New tournament drawing smaller but more vocal fan base
Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE - In college sports, the biggest donors usually are not also the rowdiest fans.

During regular-season men's basketball games at the University of Virginia, for example, many spectators in the choicest lower-level seats appear to consider it unseemly to stand and cheer or be overly demonstrative.

The scene was different Monday night at John Paul Jones Arena. For U.Va.'s games in the new College Basketball Invitational, many fans have had access to lower-level seats that usually are unavailable to them. Exuberant fans packed those sections Monday, and many spent much of the game on their feet, in full roar.

"It was loud," U.Va. forward Mamadi Diane said.

Never was the crowd louder than in the final 30 seconds, when Virginia rallied behind all-ACC guard Sean Singletary to stun Old Dominion 80-76 in a CBI quarterfinal. The Cavaliers trailed 74-70 when Singletary went to the line for two shots with 29.6 seconds to play.

"I think part of it is if you have somebody who has not been able to in two years sit in the lower level, and for $10 they can do that," U.Va. coach Dave Leitao said. "It makes for an excited fan. A lot of children, a lot of people that you wouldn't normally see [in those sections]. And so that adds to the excitement, that adds to the energy. They're loud, and so I'm hoping that we can duplicate that, we can exceed the numbers and fill up most if not all of the arena [for tonight's CBI semifinal]."

The official attendance Monday night was 6,460 in an arena that seats 14,593, but those 6,460 made more noise than some crowds twice that size have at the JPJ.

"Certainly, they were great for us today," Leitao said after the ODU game, "and we're going to need them to be great again Wednesday."

Virginia (17-15) hosts Bradley (19-15) at 7 p.m. A win tonight would assure the Cavaliers of at least one more home game this season. The CBI will determine its champion with a best-of-three series, and U.Va., as the top seed, would play two games at the JPJ if necessary, the first Monday night.

To get to the championship series, of course, the Cavaliers must first beat the Braves. That won't be easy. Bradley's style is similar to that of Duke's, to which U.Va. lost twice this season. The Braves aren't big - they've been outrebounded this season - but they excel at driving and passing the ball out for 3-pointers. Bradley has hit 311 treys, an average of more than nine per game.

Against Old Dominion, Virginia hit nine 3-pointers. The last will live in U.Va. hoops lore. With 22.4 seconds left, Singletary banked in a shot from the top of the key, pulling U.Va. even at 75 and sending the crowd into a frenzy.

"Luck is a byproduct of hard work," Leitao said. "You put yourself in position to be lucky, so I don't think it was a lucky shot. I think when a guy has done what he's done, in preparation for big moments, that shots like that do go in."

Singletary wasn't through. He stole the ball from Monarchs point guard Brandon Johnson and then converted a three-point play with 4.3 seconds left to put Virginia ahead to stay. The 6-0 senior finished with 22 points and tied his career high with 10 assists.

"He's one in a million," Leitao said.

The CBI is not, as many have noted, on par with the NIT, and it's a world away from the NCAA tournament. That hasn't lessened Singletary's drive to win.

"This is what I do," he said. "This is what I want to do after college. My college career is winding down, and the energy and the feeling you get playing in this gym, you don't want to be over, so you've got to go out and give it all you've got and leave it on the floor."

 

CBI wins following at UVa
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
March 26, 2008

After Virginia’s shocking come-from-behind victory over Old Dominion on Monday night in the College Basketball Invitational, ODU coach Blaine Taylor talked about how it has become chic to be cynical of the first-year postseason tournament.

He was certainly right about that.

Before Taylor and Virginia coach Dave Leitao entered the room for their postgame press conferences, media members wondered aloud if UVa players had cut down the nets inside of John Paul Jones Arena.

They joked about players possibly donning Final Four hats and commemorative T-shirts, and whether or not Virginia would hang a CBI championship banner from the rafters next season.

Of course, the CBI - an event for schools that didn’t make the NCAA or NIT - had previously been dubbed the “Can’t Believe It” tournament.

“I’ll tell you what,” said Taylor, following his team’s 80-76 quarterfinal loss. “I had a hard time watching that game thinking that wasn’t an experience that the kids didn’t enjoy and wasn’t worthwhile.”

Taylor was right about that, too.

Thirteen days ago, Virginia’s season seemed like it had ended on a major downer with a first-round loss to Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament.

But now, after wins over Richmond and ODU in the CBI, UVa has regained a pulse. Ditto for its fan base.

Sean Singletary is mostly to thank for that. The senior co-captain’s late-game heroics against ODU have made even the most cynical of folks rethink their feelings about the CBI.

Tonight, Virginia (17-15) looks to keep the good times rolling when it hosts Bradley in the semifinals. The winner will take on the Houston-Tulsa winner in a best-of-three championship series beginning March 31.

“It feels good to be in the Final Four. There are only like 20 or 30-something teams still playing out there,” said Virginia junior Lars Mikalauskas, referring to the remaining participants in the NCAA Tournament, NIT and CBI.

“Like our coach [Leitao] said, ‘Georgetown is a good team, but they’re not playing anymore.’ We’re still playing and still practicing. We still have a chance to play and become champions and finish the season as champions.”

Mikalauskas and with teammates Mamadi Diane and Jamil Tucker were solid in the win over ODU. Each scored in double figures and helped keep Virginia within striking distance until Singletary could take over.

The trio had come off the bench for much of the season until taking over for starters Ryan Pettinella, Mike Scott and Adrian Joseph at the start of Monday’s second half. The unit helped propel the team to a 57-51 lead after Virginia had trailed by eight points at the break.

Nobody has seemed to benefit from the lengthier season more than Diane. The mercurial junior has struggled to find consistency since he stepped foot on campus, but seems to be finding a groove in the more relaxed CBI atmosphere.

Diane has scored in double figures in his last six games - tying a career best.

On Monday, he could be seen smiling as he ran down the court after an authoritative, two-handed dunk.

“I really think I am just having fun out there - guys being able to extend [the season] out and play with the seniors,” Diane said. “It’s just been fun.

“Every game I think I find myself smiling a lot more out there.”

The same can be said for the cynics - slowly, but surely.

Dunks

On Monday, Bradley (19-15) overcame a 14-point second-half deficit to defeat Ohio and advance to tonight’s semifinals. The Braves, from the Missouri Valley Conference, haven’t played an ACC school since 1995 when they defeated Georgia Tech. Bradley, which beat Cincinnati in its first-round game, is 11-4 all-time versus the ACC. “They have great balance and a very high-octane offense,” Leitao said. “They shoot almost 25 three-pointers a game and they make almost 40 percent of them so you really have to guard the three-point line. They do, almost like Duke does, stretch you out and try to play advantage basketball that way. On defense we will certainly have our work cut out for us.”…Bradley ranks 15th among Division I programs in 3-pointers per game (9.1). Virginia is 42nd (8.2)...UVa is 0-1 all-time against Bradley. The lone meeting occured in the 1946-47 season.

 

UVa, Bradley recording fantastic finishes in CBI
By Andy Bitter
Published: March 25, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE — It’s trendy to bash the inaugural College Basketball Invitational as a watered-down postseason event. But even the CBI’s most ardent critics can’t deny that the tournament has had some exciting finishes.
Both Virginia and Bradley, who meet at the John Paul Jones Arena tonight at 7 in the CBI semifinals, have faced some daunting odds and made spectacular comebacks just to get this far.
The Cavaliers (17-15) rallied from 12 down against Richmond in their opener before Sean Singletary singled-handedly brought them back from the dead with eight points in the final 29.6 seconds against Old Dominion in the quarterfinals Monday.
“With a player like Sean, it’s never over,” UVa forward Jamil Tucker said. “He can do something miraculous like he did. … We knew it wasn’t over.”
Bradley (19-15) needed a second-half jolt to get to the semifinals as well. The Braves trailed Ohio by 14 in the second half Monday before using a 25-4 run to pull out a six-point win.
They did it with their M.O. — outside shooting. The Braves start three guards, Jeremy Crouch, Daniel Ruffin and Andrew Warren, who shoot better than 38 percent from beyond the arc.
Bradley, the last remaining Missouri Valley Conference team in postseason play, made 311 3-pointers on the season, 14th most in the country. By comparison, Virginia finished third in the ACC with 263.
UVa’s most accurate long-range shooter against ODU was the 6-foot-8 Tucker, who doesn’t look the part. But the sophomore has found a niche, camping out in the corner and patiently waiting for the ball to come to him. In the second half against the Monarchs, he made three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.
That’s three double-digit performances in four games for the reserve forward, but coach Dave Leitao has been more impressed with Tucker’s rebounding and assertiveness. Tucker has four or more rebounds in each of the last six games and has improved his defense.
“Jamil has really become much more aggressive,” Leitao said. “I’ve told him a lot of times during the year, somebody would get an offensive rebound and an and-one because he’d reach over and try to pluck the ball. Something as simple as a hard foul shows progress for him. He’s maturing and he’s growing up.”
Tonight’s winner advances to the best-of-three CBI championship series against the winner of the other semifinal between Tulsa and Houston.
The home-away-home series begins March 31 at the higher-seeded team’s arena.
The second game is April 2 and the final game April 4, if necessary.


 

Cavaliers hope to bring down tournament's only other top seed
Cavaliers face Bradley tonight as Singletary looks to build on outburst of 6 points in 26 seconds against ODU
Paul Montana, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor

As Virginia took the floor in each of the first two rounds of the College Basketball Invitational, John Paul Jones Arena didn't have the buzz of a typical tournament elimination game. There wasn't even a half-full crowd to witness the two games, with 4,000 showing up for the first-round game, and 6,460 for the second-round match Monday.

The atmosphere of the CBI might not be up to par for the fans and the media, but as senior guard Sean Singletary suits up for the semifinal game against Bradley tonight at JPJ, there will be only one thing that matters to him: There's a winner and there's a loser.

"If you're playing a card game in your room, there's no difference between that and the biggest stage to perform on," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said in reference to Singletary. "That's what competitors all do ... it's just him. He doesn't know any other way."

Led by Singletary's competitive ego, Virginia (17-15, 5-11 ACC) has staged two of the most improbable comebacks in recent memory in the first two games of this tournament. With 35 seconds left in the second round against Old Dominion (18-16) Monday, Singletary scored six points in 26 seconds -- including a bank-three to tie and a 3-point play off a steal to take the lead -- to bring Virginia back from a 4-point deficit to an 80-76 victory. One week before against Richmond in round one, the Cavaliers were down 12 with 8:41 remaining before they ran off 17 points to the Spiders' 3 in the time remaining to win 66-64.

Singletary admitted that while it's impossible to make up for the three overtime losses and the four other defeats by 2 points or less in conference play this season, these wins are meaningful in other ways.

"I don't know if you can make up with it at this point in time, because we're in the lesser of the three tournaments," Singletary said. "But it's never too late to turn things around, and we're not just playing for this year. We're playing for next year and we're playing for the future of the program."

With Singletary still chomping at the bit to get on the court, the relatively small crowds at the two games have been surprisingly intense. At both postseason contests, the fans were as loud as they had been during most games of the regular season. After the win against Old Dominion, Leitao suggested that the unusual ticket prices -- $10 per ticket for the general public -- may have been the biggest factor.

"I could tell no difference between the crowd today and 15,000 people who have been in here," Leitao said. "I think part of it is, if you have somebody who hasn't been able to in two years sit on the lower level, and for $10 they can do that, it makes for an excited fan."

After the excitement of Virginia's late-game heroics in the last two games, the crowd for today's 7 p.m. tipoff is likely to be even more raucous. The Cavaliers' opponent tonight is Bradley, the only No. 1 seed left in the bracket, which had a late-game spurt of its own Monday night to make it to the semifinal game not unlike Virginia's comeback against Richmond. Down 14 to Ohio with 9:10 remaining in regulation, the Braves went on a 25-5 rampage in the closing minutes to win by six. Bradley features four players who average double figures in scoring, and fittingly, the same four all hit double figures in scoring in the win Monday night.

When Bradley comes into Charlottesville tonight, Singletary will be prepared. He is not ready to have his career end quite yet.

"This is my job, this is what I do," Singletary said. "This is what I want to do after college. My college career's winding down, and the energy and the feeling you get playing in this gym, you don't want that to be over."

With the emotional goodbye at Singletary's senior night against Maryland more than two weeks ago, the senior was asked whether he was "giggling" about his chance to suit up at JPJ a few more times.

"I don't know if I'm giggling yet," he said. "Maybe when we win the championship."

 

Davis, U.Va. recruit in McDonald's game
Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008 - 12:07 AM
 
For area basketball fans, Benedictine High's Ed Davis isn't the only player of interest in tonight's McDonald's All-American game.

University of Virginia supporters who want an early look at coach Dave Leitao's top recruit for 2008-09 should tune in to ESPN, which at 9:30 p.m. will televise the game live from Milwaukee. Sylven Landesberg, who signed with U.Va. in November, is one of Davis' teammates on the East squad.

Landesberg, a 6-5 guard, attends Holy Cross High in Queens, N.Y. He recently was named Mr. New York Basketball and is a two-time New York Catholic High Schools' Athletic Association player of the year.

At Holy Cross, whose former standouts include Willie Dersch, who played for U.Va., Landesberg is the career scoring leader. He's the first Virginia recruit to be named a McDonald's All-American since point guard Majestic Mapp, whose college career was marred by knee problems. Dersch also was a McDonald's All-American. - Jeff White

 

Time announced for Sunday's open practice
From staff reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
March 25, 2008

Virginia's spring practice session for Sunday, the first of two chances for fans to watch, will start at 2:45 p.m.

The Cavaliers will also have an open practice on April 6. Virginia's annual spring game will be held at 2 p.m. on April 12 at Scott Stadium.

 

ACC plunges into black
David Teel
March 26, 2008
 

Coaches whine. About their players, schedules and contracts. About referees, reporters and other coaches.

They can't help themselves. Like eye color and foul mouths, it's in their DNA.

The most common gripe among ACC basketball coaches recently is the conference's declining NCAA tournament bids. To hear Gary Williams, Roy Williams, Seth Greenberg and friends, this is more scandalous than Kwame Kilpatrick's text messages.

Please. The ACC has no legitimate beefs, and until conference teams, emphasis on the plural, start performing better in March, the coaches ought to pipe down.

They won't, naturally. They'll continue to recite chapter and verse the ACC's unrivaled tradition — as if that matters.

Sorry, guys. Michael Jordan is no more pertinent to this conversation than Michael Clayton.

Quite wisely, the NCAA tournament selection committee awards bids based solely on the present season. And absent this standard, the 2006 Final Four would not have been blessed with George Mason.

This season, four ACC teams merited NCAA tournament inclusion. Lo and behold, North Carolina, Duke, Clemson and Miami received bids.

Can you make a case for Virginia Tech? Sure, but not a very convincing one, and certainly no more convincing than for bypassed Syracuse, Arizona State and Mississippi.

Predictably, ACC coaches fussed. Then the conference went belly-up in the tournament for the second consecutive season.

Duke was lucky to escape Belmont in the first round and then fell meekly to West Virginia, the Blue Devils' second straight late-season collapse; Clemson squandered an 18-point lead in a first-round defeat to Villanova, while Miami played admirably in a second-round loss to Texas.

From 1980-2006, at least two ACC teams advanced to the regional semifinals every year. The last two seasons, North Carolina has been the ACC's lone survivor — the Tar Heels face Washington State in an East Regional semifinal Thursday.

Wait, there's more.

In the last 10 years, ACC teams have earned 46 NCAA bids. In the previous 10 years, the number was 58.

It's even worse when you consider expansion. Since growing to 12 teams for the 2005-06 season, the ACC has sent four, seven and four teams to the NCAA tournament.

Meanwhile, the football-centric, 12-member Southeastern Conference has received at least five bids for 12 consecutive years.

Yes, part of the ACC's decline is cyclical, and no, the league is not bound for basketball's boondocks.

Remember, Duke, Maryland and North Carolina have won national championships this decade, and if the Tar Heels fall short of the Final Four this season, it will mark the ACC's first three-year absence since 1959-61. Conversely, the Big East went without a Final Four team from 1990-98, the Pacific 10 from 1981-87.

So droughts happen. Question is, do ACC basketball programs have collective or individual problems? The hunch here is individual.

Maryland has earned one NCAA bid in the last four years as Gary Williams struggles with rampant staff turnover; Georgia Tech has failed to gain traction under Paul Hewitt, and North Carolina State ran off a quality coach in Herb Sendek.

Clemson progressed this season, but coach Oliver Purnell never has won an NCAA tournament game; Virginia regressed and faces an iffy future without Sean Singletary; Virginia Tech has a two-time ACC coach of the year in Greenberg but hasn't made consecutive NCAA appearances since 1985 and '86.

If Dino Gaudio coaches as well as he recruits, Wake Forest has a chance to rebuild; Boston College enjoyed seven straight postseason bids, six of them NCAA, before this year's decline; Florida State is mired in mediocrity, while Miami fights institutional apathy.

Which leaves the most curious case: Duke.

Since winning the 2001 national championship, the Blue Devils have not defeated a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament. Moreover, Duke has lost to a lower seed in six of the last seven years.

Once the masters of March, the Blue Devils dropped five of their final 11 games this year, eight of their final 12 last year.

Duke desperately needs a serviceable big man, and its fans are entitled to question whether coach Mike Krzyzewski's three-year involvement with the 2008 Olympic team has compromised the Blue Devils.

Of course, most programs and conferences gladly would trade places with Duke and the ACC. And gazing ahead to 2009, expect Duke, North Carolina, Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College and Wake Forest to make the NCAA tournament.

But if they don't, please, no whining.

 

Cavs' NCAA run ends in OT
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
March 26, 2008

NORFOLK - This time Sharnee Zoll, the ACC’s assist queen, needed some aid of her own.

In 4.8 seconds, Virginia’s lone senior starter watched her roller-coaster career flash before her eyes as Old Dominion guard Jazzmin Walters’ desperation 3-pointer rotated through the air and dropped out of the bottom of the net inside the Ted Constant Center.

The shot, which was fired as the shot clock expired, broke the game’s final tie and Zoll’s heart, bringing a steady stream of tears to her eyes.

Old Dominion, the fifth-seeded team in the Greensboro Regional, did the career-ending damage as it upset fourth-seeded Virginia, 88-85, in overtime in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“What I have known for four years has come to an end,” Zoll said. “Hopefully, my career as a basketball isn’t over, but what I have known for four years is over and the people that I have grown to love … I won’t be spending all of my time with anymore.

“It is a tough loss, especially being so close, and feeling this way my first year. It is kind of ironic.”

Virginia ends the season with a 24-10 record, while ODU (30-4) advances to face Connecticut in the Sweet Sixteen on Sunday in Greensboro.

The fact that UVa even forced overtime stunned most, if not all, of the onlookers inside ODU’s friendly confines.

The Cavaliers trailed by nine, at 68-59, with just 6:51 left in regulation before a spirited rally forced a 71-71 tie just over three minutes later.

Reaching the overtime session also took a miraculous old-fashioned three-point play from center Aisha Mohammed, who ended a possession that included five offensive rebounds with a layup with 1.8 seconds left.

Mohammed, who finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds, calmly swished the pivotal free-throw attempt after contemplating the game-tying shot through a lengthy timeout.

“I just thought she had ice water in her veins,” said Virginia coach Debbie Ryan. “She is not a great free-throw shooter, but she just stepped up.

“She knew the team needed her to make it.”

Virginia kept the momentum at the start of the overtime session, building a four-point lead, at 85-81, on a layup by Lyndra Littles with 2:13 left.

But ODU responded as Walters hit one free throw with 1:57 remaining and Jessica Canady converted a three-point play on a driving layup 34 seconds later, tying the game up at 85-85.

After a Virginia turnover with 1:09 left on an errant pass, ODU collected a team rebound that followed three missed jumpers.

That allowed ODU coach Wendy Larry to call timeout, setting the stage for the game’s most pivotal possession.

As the shot clock trickled down to extinction, ODU forward Shadasia Green tried to use a spin move to get into the lane and by her defender, Virginia’s Enonge Stovall, but was forced to pass the ball to Walters, who appears generously listed at 5-foot-2, after Britnee Millner slid over to double defensively.

“I just helped off,” Millner said. “I figured I was so much taller than [Walters] that I would be able to contest a shot anyway.”

Walters heaved the shot as Millner came flying by with her hand outstretched for a block that never materialized.

“I was like right there,” Millner said. “I was a

half-second too late. I knew she could shoot very well, but I knew the pressure would be on her and I could help off and she would have to rush her shot at the last second. Unfortunately, it went in.”

Walters, who scored a team-high 17 points, 10 over her average, admitted that the play was not designed for her.

“Once I let it go, I knew it was good after that,” Walters said. “I just shot it with confidence.”

Virginia attempt to answer as Millner heaved a pass to Littles at mid-court, but after dribbling to the 3-point line, ODU center Tiffany Green stepped out and blocked the attempt. The ball landed near Littles, who shot again, pushing the shot short and to the left as the final buzzer sounded.

“I wasn’t concerned [with getting a foul],” Green said. “I couldn’t take any chances. The first thing I thought was just to contest the shot.

“She looked like she was getting ready to set up for the shot, so the first thing in my mind was block the shot.”

The win for ODU snapped Virginia’s five-game winning streak in the state’s most glorified rivalry in women’s basketball.

“[In] this type of game, you hate to have a winner and a loser because it was such a great battle,” Larry said.

For the game, Virginia struggled from the field, making just 31 of its 83 (37.3 percent) attempts from the field, and missed nine free throws in the opening half.

The Cavaliers also were forced to final 5:23 in regulation and all of overtime without leading scorer Monica Wright, who fouled out on what appeared to be an odd call in a physical contest that included 42 fouls.

“I was told it was a hold,” Ryan said.

Wright made just 5 of 17 shots from the field, finishing with 11 points in 25 minutes, just two nights after missing all 10 shots in Virginia’s opening round win over UC Santa Barbara.

“She was going a little too fast,” Ryan said of her sophomore. “I think most of the things she missed, she was just off balance. She was taking a couple of shots that just weren’t in her repertoire. They just weren’t in her game.

“I just think she was trying so hard to bring the team back all at once instead of doing it two-by-two.”

Eight of the nine players to see action for Virginia are slated to return next season. Zoll, however, will not be that fortunate, finishing her career with 785 assists and two trips to the NCAA Tournament sandwiched around stints in the Women’s NIT.

“What is going through my head is that it is over,” Zoll said, once again wiping away a trail of tears.

 

UVa looks to rejoin NCAA elite
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com
March 26, 2008
NORFOLK

When the smallest player on the floor launched a confident shot from beyond the arc with seconds remaining in overtime, it proved to be the dagger that ended, or perhaps just delayed, Virginia’s return to the NCAA’s Sweet 16.

Diminutive Jazzmin Walters, a questionable 5-foot-2, home-grown ball of dynamite, drilled a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining to lift host Old Dominion to an 88-85 win over the Cavaliers in a second-round NCAA matchup on Tuesday night.

UVa had a chance for a miracle dashed when ODU’s Tiffany Green blocked Lyndra Littles’ 3-point attempt, ending the Cavaliers’ season at 24-10. The Monarchs (31-4) advance to Greensboro, where they will face UConn on Sunday.

When it was all over and tears flowed, there was time to search for a silver lining.

Chemistry lessons

Veteran coach Debbie Ryan, a Hall of Famer, believed that this particular game was a huge part of her master plan of getting Virginia basketball back to where she thinks it belongs. Who can blame her for beckoning back to the days of the early 1990’s when the Cavs went to three consecutive Final Fours.

This team reminded her a lot of those days - partly because of its chemistry, partly because of some of the character of her players. She said this team had a special place in her heart for those reasons, and it was easy to understand why.

“This team was an incredible team, one of the best teams I’ve ever had in terms of chemistry,” Ryan said afterward. “It definitely does take me back to the days of Tammi [Reiss], Dawn [Staley], and that crew.”

Ryan was particularly speaking of senior point guard Sharnee Zoll, the tough kid who grew up in Philadelphia and New Jersey, a kid who grew up idolizing Staley, then breaking her hero’s UVa career assists record during a sterling career.

“Words can’t describe what Sharnee has meant to this team and meant to me,” Ryan said. “She’s shown her loyalty in the way that she’s fought to bring this program back since her arrival on campus. She’s been a tremendous leader on and off the floor.”

Program-defining player

Zoll’s timing couldn’t have been better. She walked in the door after Ryan’s worst season since the early days of her 31-year career. The wolves were howling, and Ryan was hell-bent on getting the team back to respectability.

Might not have happened if this brash, young guard hadn’t signed on the dotted line. Zoll arrived with an attitude and Staley’s all-time assists record written in black marker on her sneakers as a constant reminder of why she came to Virginia.

An NCAA appearance in her freshman year (a win over ODU, then a second-round loss on Minnesota’s home floor) breathed some life back in the program. After a two-year absence from the dance, Virginia was determined to get back to the Sweet 16 as a going away present to Zoll, the Cavaliers’ lone senior.

Little Jazzmin had other thoughts.

“From the minute [Zoll] walked in, she wanted Virginia to be back on the map, back in the Final Fours, and she dragged her teammates with her,” Ryan said.

In the end, she couldn’t drag them any further, through no fault of her own.

Beating ODU on its home floor would have been a monumental task. The Monarchs, who have now won 25 of their last 26 games this season, have lost only a dozen times at “The Ted,” their affectionate name for the Ted Constant Convocation Center, since the doors opened in 2002. They’ve won 81.

One bounce the other way and Zoll might have lived the dream of taking Virginia another step.

“In my eyes [which were reddened by the tears of losing such a gut-wrenching game] we got to this point my first year and we didn’t get past here and that’s kind of tough,” Zoll said, choking back her emotions. “I just hoped I could bring something to the table. That’s what I came here for, to help get us back to the national stage, and I think that’s happened to some extent.”

Ryan believes so.

“We’re back in the national limelight, we’re back on the radar and everybody knows we’re good,” Ryan said. “I felt like we really needed to get to the Sweet 16 again and this was a huge opportunity.”

While losing Zoll, the heart and soul of this Cavalier team, will be difficult, the rest of the squad returns intact, something that the senior believes bodes well for Wahoo basketball and doesn’t bode well for opponents.

“You saw what Lyndra did tonight [29 points, 14 rebounds], and Aisha Mohammed [17 points, 15 rebounds], and Monica Wright, well you don’t really have to say anything about Monica [one of the ACC’s top scorers],” Zoll said. “Monica will take over leadership of the team.”

The future indeed looks bright for Virginia even without the intense glare of Zoll when she’s driving on the fastbreak.

She had only one request of her teammates.

“I just hope these girls keep playing for the love of the game, for the love of the university, and for the love of their coach,” Zoll said.

If that happens, no doubt Virginia will get back to the Sweet 16 that its players and coaches have such a burning desire to obtain.

Next time, maybe little Jazzmin won’t be anywhere in sight.


 

Cavs overcome errors for win
By Bart Isley / risley@dailyprogress.com | 978-7240
March 26, 2008

After Jake Cowan surrendered a triple and a single in the third inning, Virginia’s infielders committed a pair of back-to-back errors that loaded the bases. Then Cowan walked in a run that tied the game, and the Cavaliers seemed to be on the cusp of a nightmare inning.

Just before things got really bad though, Cowan bore down. The freshman right-hander struck out two straight to escape the frame, and the Cavaliers eventually did too, edging Virginia Commonwealth 5-3 Tuesday night.

Dan Grovatt continued the torrid pace he’s started the season on with a three-RBI night, including a well executed hit-and-run in the bottom of the third that broke a 2-2 deadlock.

With the win, the Cavaliers (20-4) have won six straight and maintain an 18-0 record at home.

“The last couple of games, in the dugout, everybody has been up and everybody has been starting to hit a little more,” Cowan said. “Our bats are really starting to come around and our defense is getting a little bit better too.”

Cowan was making just his second career start, and he pitched five solid innings, striking out five. Getting out of the third relatively unscathed, though, was the freshman’s most impressive moment.

“I wasn’t really hitting my spots that inning, I wasn’t really following through and I was short-arming it a little bit,” Cowan said. “I was frustrated, but I had to just throw that out and calm down right away.”

The Cavaliers’ two errors in the third inning came on fluky plays by veterans David Adams and Tyler Cannon and didn’t seem indicative of any real fielding issues.

“You’re not going to be perfect, you’re going to have off nights,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “They’ll come back tomorrow and be ready to play. They’re veteran players and everybody has an off night.”

Virginia shortstop Greg Miclat looked strong defensively. Miclat made a pair of diving plays in the hole. He also went 1 for 3, scored a run and drew a walk in the leadoff spot.

“He’s progressively gotten better over the last 10 days,” O’Connor said. “The velocity and carry on his ball when he’s throwing is much improved, I think he’s starting to feel better and as it gets warmer I think his arms going to keep feeling better.”

An arm injury sidelined the junior in the later stages of the 2007 season.

The Cavaliers got solid pitcing over the final four innings from Neal Davis, Kevin Arico and Michael Schwimer. The trio scattered seven hits and allowed just one run.

VCU (5-16) actually outhit the Cavaliers, but the Rams stranded a total of 13 runners. The Rams are a young squad that starts several underclassmen and doesn’t carry a single senior on the travel squad. Only three seniors dot the roster.

Matt Leskiw posted a 3 for 5 game with an RBI and a run scored from the leadoff spot for the Rams. Four other VCU hitters posted multi-hit games. Michael Graham took the loss while surrendering four earned runs over five innings.

“They scrap and it was a good ball game for us,” O’Connor said.

Ryan Caldwell, a St. Anne’s-Belfield graduate, came on as a pinch runner for the Rams in the top of the ninth, representing the tying run for VCU on first base. Schwimer induced a pop-up by VCU’s Joe Van Meter to finish off the game and leave Caldwell on base.

Virginia will hit the field again today at home against George Washington at 5 p.m.