Cavs pull off big rally, stun Devils
Down by 9, UVa turns the tables to top Duke
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 26, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - A six-goal deficit was no problem for Duke when it came back to beat Virginia during the regular season.

A nine-goal deficit for UVa in the Final Four rematch on Friday night? No problem whatsoever.

Third-seeded Virginia, behind four goals from sophomore Blair Weymouth and a game-winner from Jess Wasilewski with just 9 seconds left, overcame a 13-4 second-half margin to shock second-seeded Duke, 14-13, in front of 6,428 fans at Franklin Field.

It was the largest comeback in NCAA Division I postseason history.

“The first word that comes to my mind is ‘Wow!’” said Virginia coach Julie Myers. “Our girls just dug down deep and got feistier and feistier on loose balls. In the second half, we made our shots count.”

UVa (19-3) advanced to the NCAA championship game on Sunday and will take on top-seeded Northwestern (20-1).

Virginia will be going for its fourth championship and its first since 2004, when it defeated Princeton in the final.

Duke (16-4) was bidding to make its first-ever appearance in the NCAA title game. This was the fourth meeting between Duke and Virginia in the Final Four. UVa is now 4-0.

“I’d like to congratulate Virginia for an awesome game,” said Duke coach Kerstin Kimel. “We all expected it to be a battle. They’re a great team and showed a ton of fortitude in the second half. … It’s obviously just a devastating loss for us.”

Back on March 31, Duke came from six goals down to beat Virginia, 19-18, in sudden-death overtime. The loss was one of UVa’s most demoralizing of the season.

However, Virginia came into Friday night’s game riding a seven-game winning streak. The Cavaliers defeated North Carolina to win the ACC championship, then easily beat Princeton and North Carolina in the first two rounds of the NCAAs.

Duke was the aggressor right from the opening whistle. The Blue Devils won three of the first four draw controls and jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead.

A goal by Megan O’Malley pulled Virginia to 3-2, but Duke responded with six straight goals to go up 8-2.

Duke led 8-3 at the half.

Things only got worse for Virginia after the break. Following a Weymouth goal, Duke scored four straight to go up 13-4 with 23:40 left.

But then the Cavaliers went nuts, scoring the game’s final 10 goals.

“I think our girls just started playing with a sense of urgency and started executing the little things,” Myers said. “They were always there coming off loose balls and I think we made Duke unravel.”

Weymouth started the spree with a goal off a free-position shot, then scored two of the next four before senior Megan Havrilla scored two in a row to tie the game.

On the game-winner, Weymouth ran the clock down, then dished to Wasilewski. The senior drove hard to her right and launched a laser that beat Duke goalie Kim Imbesi over her right shoulder.

“I knew there wasn’t too much time left and then I heard Kate Breslin say, ‘You gotta go, you gotta go,’” Wasilewski said. “I just took the shot and hoped for the best.”

The goal was particularly sweet for Wasilewski, who grew up in nearby Paoli, Pa.

“It’s just unbelievable to be playing in front of my friends and family here at the Final Four,” Wasilewski said. “Then to score the winning goal is just amazing.”

Virginia will take on a Northwestern squad that hasn’t lost since its season opener against North Carolina.

“We’re going to have our hands full for sure,” Myers said. “Hopefully we get off to a good start. I don’t think we can spot Northwestern nine goals. I don’t think that would be a good game plan.”

Ground balls

Virginia leads the all-time series with Duke, 15-6, including a 7-1 mark in postseason play. … In the first semifinal, Northwestern looked dominant in its 12-2 win over Penn. The Wildcats jumped out to an 8-0 lead at the half. Aly Josephs led the way with five goals. Kristen Kjellman added three. Goalie Morgan Lathrop had seven saves.

 

Rally Time! 10-0 Run Moves UVa into NCAA Finals with 14-13 Comeback Win vs. Duke
Jess Wasilewski Scores Gamewinner with Nine Seconds to Play
May 26, 2007

With the Virginia women's lacrosse team facing a 13-4 deficit with 20 minutes to play, the Cavaliers called timeout--and proceeded to set an NCAA record for the largest comeback in NCAA Championships history, scoring the final 10 goals of the game to defeat Duke 14-13. Jess Wasilewski, a Philadelphia native, scored her third goal of the game with nine seconds to play to cap the 10-0 run and send the No. 3 Cavaliers (19-3) to the finals, where they will face two-time reigning champion Northwestern. The Championship game will start at 7 p.m. and be televised by CSTV.

In the 10-0 run, Philadelphia native Megan Havrilla had three goals and 2006 National Rookie of the Year Blair Weymouth added a hat trick; Ashley McCulloch had one goal and three assists.

Duke scored 25 seconds into the game as Kristen Waagbo scored on a hidden-ball trick, putting the Blue Devils up 1-0. Kaitlin Duff caused a turnover on the sidelines and after three saves by Kim Imbesi, Virginia got on the board as Wasilewski scored a quick stick from Kate Breslin to tie the game. Duke won the draw and scored 28 seconds later to retake the lead. A Michelle Menser goal four minutes later gave Duke a 3-1 lead.

Brittany Kalkstein won the draw and Virginia settled the ball and got off a shot that was saved, but Kalkstein was there to corral the loose ball and worked the ball over to Megan O'Malley, who drove in from the top and scored at 19:12. The Blue Devils then scored the next five goals, including two from Caroline Cryer and two from Waagbo, to open up an 8-2 lead. Weymouth won the ensuing draw and the Hoos worked the ball behind to McCulloch, who notched the first of her four assists as Breslin quicksticked the ball into the net 24 seconds after Cryer's goal to pull UVa to within five at 8-3. The teams took that score into the break.

Claire Bordley started it off for the Cavaliers in the second half as she intercepted a pass at the restraining line and started a clear that saw Weymouth take from the top to pull UVa within four.

Duke then scored the next five goals, starting with a pair from Rachel Sanford, to open up a 13-4 lead with 20:46 to play. The Cavaliers called a timeout.

The Blue Devils won the draw, but an overthrow was controlled by the Cavaliers on the boundary ball. Virginia settled the ball and drew a 3-seconds call. Weymouth converted the shot for a 13-5 score.

McCulloch won the draw and the Cavaliers set up their offense that was disrupted with a dropped ball in the arc; Duke in turn dropped the ball and McCulloch pounced on it, sticking it in the cage for Virginia's second goal in under a minute. She won the next draw as well and led Havrilla with a pass, who was all alone at the top of the critical scoring area. Havrilla raced in uncontested and scored eight seconds after McCulloch for a 13-7 score. Duke won the draw but on an attempt to settle their offense, McCulloch stepped in front of a pass and intercepted the ball on the run, taking it all the way to the cage before dishing it to Breslin, who faked out the goalie twice and scored for a fourth consecutive goal--all in the span of two minutes. Duke took a timeout.

The Blue Devils won the draw, but another Duke missed catch led to a ground ball by Bordley, who fed the ball up to Weymouth at the midfield stripe. Weymouth raced in the 50 yards and scoring one minute after Breslin at 14:12 for a 13-9 score. Wasilewski picked up an overthrow at the restraining line and again it was Weymouth driving in unassisted for a goal at 10:33, the Cavaliers' sixth consecutive goal.

Weymouth won the draw and the Hoos quickly brought the ball behind where she dumped the ball to Wasilewski, who scored on a quickstick less than a minute after Weymouth to move UVa into double digits at 13-10. Kalkstein won the draw, her fourth of the game, and Havrilla took from the top, scoring 39 seconds after Wasilewski for a 13-11 score. A save by McBrearty was collected by Bordley, and the Cavaliers cleared the ball where Havrilla again took from the top, scoring at 4:48 to tie the game, Virginia's ninth consecutive goal. Duke called their final timeout.

Duke won the draw and set up their offense, but Duff caused a turnover on the sidelines and Virginia set up their offense for the final shot. With 30 seconds to go, Weymouth drove but pulled out, and the Cavaliers worked the ball over to Wasilewski, who drove down the left of the arc and stuck a shot in the cage with nine seconds to play. It was the first lead of the night for the Cavaliers.

Cryer won the draw, but the Virginia defense denied her an opportunity to shoot, and Virginia defeated Duke 14-13. It was the largest deficit ever overcome in an NCAA Championships game, besting the five-goal deficit recorded by Dartmouth in the 1998 quarterfinals.

McCulloch's four assists ties the second-highest number of assists in an NCAA semifinal game and gives her seven in the tournament, the seventh-highest total in championships history.

Breslin had two goals and an assist, she now has scored 13 goals and has 18 points in the tournament. Thirteen goals is the fifth-highest total in a tournament, and 18 points ranks eighth all-time in championships history. She also now has 182 points, passing All-American Anna Yates for ninth all-time in school history.

The Class of 2007 is playing in their third NCAA final, and this marks the fourth final in the last five years for Virginia. The Cavaliers lost to Northwestern in the 2005 final 13-10 at the US Naval Academy, but the Hoos were the last team to defeat the `Cats in NCAA play with a 15-11 victory in the NCAA quarterfinals in 2004.

 

UVa's Unbelievable Rally Stuns Duke
By Barney Breen-Portnoy
TheSabre.com
May 26, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - It was all over. There was no way Virginia could come back from a nine-goal deficit with 20 minutes remaining in the second half. Fans began to file out of Franklin Field and members of the media started to write stories about a Duke blowout of the Cavaliers.

But no one told Virginia's players that the game was over. Lacrosse is played for 60 minutes and these Cavaliers were going to fight to the very last second. Slowly but surely, Virginia chipped away. 5 goals down with 15 minutes remaining. 3 goals with 10 minutes remaining. 1 goal down with nine minutes remaining.

And the Cavaliers did not stop there.

Megan Havrilla scored the equalizer with just less than five minutes remaining and Jess Wasilewski notched the game-winner with nine seconds left in regulation as Virginia completed an unbelievable comeback to win 14-13 and advance to Sunday's Championship Game against Northwestern.

"The first word that comes to my mind is wow," said Virginia coach Julie Myers. "Obviously we were down by a lot in the second half against a really powerful Duke team that made things look so easy in the first half. But our girls dug deep and started to get feistier and feistier on loose balls, draw controls, and started taking it hard to the goal. I was hugely impressed by my team's effort tonight."

The nine-goal comeback was the largest in NCAA history. The previous record was five.

Blair Weymouth and Havrilla led Virginia with four goals. Wasilewski added three and Kate Breslin notched two. Ashley McCulloch and Megan O'Malley also scored for the Cavaliers.

Nothing went right for Virginia in the first half and the Cavaliers trailed 8-3 at the break.

"The first half we were in the right places but just weren't making our shots count," Myers said.

Things only got worse in the first part of the second half. After Weymouth scored to pull Virginia within four, Duke went on a 5-0 run to take a 13-4 lead with 20:46 remaining.

Blair Weymouth scored four goals to help lead the Cavalier comeback.

But then Duke went silent and Virginia seized the momentum. Weymouth started the rally by scoring on a free position shot with just more than 17 minutes remaining. Less than a minute later, McCulloch scored, followed shortly thereafter by Havrilla. Breslin pulled Virginia to within six with around 15 minutes left and UVa's players started to look energized for the first time all night.

Weymouth then scored two consecutive goals to make the deficit three and Duke's players began to take on a "deer in the headlights" appearance.

The Cavaliers kept winning draw after draw and picking up loose ball after loose ball as the crowd began to pull for the comeback.

"Our girls really played with so much urgency and just were executing little things," Myers said. "It was not perfect by any means but I think we made Duke unravel. When we see a team unravel, we get more excited and momentum swings our way."

"In the second half, we made sure our shots were counting and they came at critical times."

Havrilla's fourth goal of the night tied the score, setting up a tense final five minutes. Duke turned the ball over twice and with 34 seconds remaining committed a foul. Virginia held the ball for the final shot and Wasilewski, a senior midfielder, took the game into her hands.

"I can't believe it," Wasilewski said. "We had set up a last shot play but a Duke player broke up the play. I knew there wasn't too much time left and I heard Kate Breslin say 'You gotta go, you gotta go' so I just took it and hoped for the best."

Virginia, the No. 3 seed, improved its season record to 19-3. The Cavaliers will face Northwestern, the No. 1 seed, on Sunday at 7 p.m.



 

Devils lose a 13-4 lead with 20 minutes to go in loss to Virginia
By Andy Jasner : Special to the The Herald-Sun
May 26, 2007 : 12:05 am ET

PHILADELPHIA -- This was devastating.

Second-seeded Duke finally appeared on the verge of taking a major step in its quest for its first women's lacrosse national championship in school history.

But the Blue Devils couldn't hold onto a commanding 13-4 advantage with 20:46 remaining and lost 14-13 to third-seeded Virginia (19-3) in one of the most memorable games in Final Four history on Friday at Franklin Field.

Jess Wasilewski scored with nine seconds remaining for the winning goal.

Instead of celebrating its first-ever berth in the national championship game, Duke (16-4) will be left to wonder how its 10-goal lead dissipated. It will also be left to wonder how to get past the Cavaliers.

"I think they definitely gained momentum during their run," said Duke senior midfielder Rachel Sanford. "We were held goal-less and they wanted it."

After Virginia cut the lead to 8-4 early in the second half, Duke responded with five straight goals for a commanding 13-4 advantage.

From that point, the crowd of 6,428 at the historic stadium was buzzing with each goal during the comeback. Top-seeded Northwestern (20-1) easily ousted fourth-seeded Penn 12-2 in the opening game and seemed destined for a rematch with Duke.

Northwestern, which has won the last two national championships and possesses an incredible 61-2 record over the past three seasons, has won 20 straight games. The Wildcats also beat Duke 11-10 in double overtime in the national semifinals last year.

The semifinal round has always been difficult for the Blue Devils, who are 0-4 with losses to Virginia in 1999, 2005 and now this season.

Caroline Cryer scored four goals and Kristen Waagbo added three goals as the Blue Devils built an 8-3 lead at halftime. Sanford also contributed three goals for Duke, which earned an NCAA Tournament berth for the 10th consecutive year.

This game began with a much different scenario than the March 31 matchup in Charlottesville, Va., in which the Blue Devils won a thrilling 19-18 game in double overtime. Unfortunately, it wound up being a crushing defeat.

"First off, I'd like to congratulate Virginia for just an awesome game," Duke coach Kerstin Kimel said. "I expected it to be close. We all expected it to be close. They're a great team and I feel like they showed a ton of fortitude in the second half."

Cryer and Waagbo scored three goals apiece in the first half and kept the pressure on after halftime. Cryer set a school record for goals in a season with 71. Katie Chrest held the previous mark of 70 in '05.

Waagbo, meanwhile, moved into a tie for second place on Duke's all-time career goals list with 161, tying Tricia Martin, who also had 161 goals from 1997-2000.

Personal records and accolades were not much consolation after this loss.

"It's heartbreaking for them to end it this way," Kimel said.

Waagbo, fighting back tears, agreed with her coach.

"The first half, the biggest difference was we were just being really aggressive," Waagbo said. "In the second half, they put the pressure on us."

While Virginia was putting the pressure on, the Blue Devils were making mistakes and turning the ball over.

"We believed in ourselves to the very end," Kimel said. "Unfortunately, we just made too many mistakes to win."


 

Replacing Lanier no slam dunk
JUCO route may be best bet for Tech signee
By Doug Doughty

If Virginia pays any attention to history, it will be very careful in the restructing of its men’s basketball staff following the departure of assistant Rob Lanier.

Dave Leitao’s immediate successors as UVa head coach, Jeff Jones and Pete Gillen, both got off to promising starts before they had to rebuild their original staffs.

Jones might still be at Virginia if he had not lost assistant Dennis Wolff following the 1994 season. The Cavaliers reached the final eight of the 1995 NCAA Tournament but were unable to replace the recruiting punch lost when Wolff and Brian Ellerbe left for Boston University and Loyola of Baltimore, respectively, within one week in the spring of 1994.

Gillen enjoyed early success at Virginia thanks to the recruiting efforts of Bobby Gonzalez, but Gonzalez left after one season to take the Manhattan job in 1999. Gillen was able to replace Gonzalez with Tommy Herrion, who had been a full-time Gillen aide at Providence, but, when Herrion left for College of Charleston following the 2002 season, Gillen chose to promote from within.

Jones had gone in the same direction and while I have profound respect for some of the people involved, they were miscast in their new roles. Ex-UVa aide Tom Perrin gave marvelous scouting reports and had a good feel for X’s and O’s, but the only way to give him a much-needed raise was to give him recruiting responsibilities.

You saw Seth Greenberg go through a similar situation at Virginia Tech following the recent selection of his brother and Hokies’ assistant Brad Greenberg as the new head coach at Radford. Seth Greenberg could have elevated basketball operations director Rick Hall but decided he needed to have a more proven recruiter and tapped James Johnson from George Mason.

There is also a temptation to hire an alumnus and there were some hurt feelings at Virginia when Jason Williford, now at American, was not asked to join Leitao’s original staff in 2005. He was passed over in favor of Bill Courtney when Gene Cross left for Notre Dame last year.

Leitao has taken steps to reunite the UVa men’s basketball family that became splintered during the Jones years, although it would not be advisable for him to hire an alumnus just for the sake of hiring an alumnus.

Of the names that have been thrown out, the most interesting might be Anthony Solomon, a former Virginia player who was on Jones’ final staff in 1997-1998. Solomon was head coach for the past four seasons at St. Bonaventure, where he went 24-88, including 7-22 this past season. After leaving UVa, Solomon spent two years at Clemson and three seasons at Notre Dame.

Whether or not Virginia fans thought Lanier was a good hire, they’d have to say Solomon had a similar profile. Lanier was the head coach for four seasons at Siena, where he compiled a 58-70 record, and for five years earlier had been an assistant at St. Bonaventure. In between, he was an assistant for two years at Texas.

That’s not to tout Solomon or anyone else, just to point out the similarities in background. I’ve always thought that former UVa point guard Cory Alexander had the kind of charisma that would make him an excellent recruiter, but hard work frequently trumps charisma in recruiting.

Leitao can’t afford to be taking any chances. There has been talk of elevating 27-year-old Travis Diener, but unless Diener has left behind-the-scenes impressions that make him a sure thing, precedent would say the Cavaliers need to be careful.

THE NEW EIGHT-SEMESTER rule that the NCAA has instituted for 2008 has raised some questions about the future of Virginia Tech football D.J. Thomas, a running back from Patrick Henry High School in Ashland.

It was understood from the time Thomas committed to Tech on Aug. 15 that he would spend a year in prep school, most likely Fork Union Military Academy, before enrolling at Tech.

In the past, there was an incentive for a student-athlete not to graduate from high school because it would be possible to improve one’s grade-point average in prep school. If he or she did graduate, then only a standardized-test score could be improved.

Now, with passage of an eight-semester rule, student-athletes cannot repeat the 12th grade and improve both their GPA and SAT. In addition, prospects will now be required to pass 16 core courses instead of 14.

Hargrave coach Robert Prunty said Friday that he does not think his program will be adversely affected and that students with learning disabilities will be able to seek a waiver. Prunty said that many of the players that seek remedial academic attention at Hargrave come to school with certifiable learning disabilities.

The reason why Thomas has come into question and not any of Tech’s other 2007 signees is that the new rules won’t go into effect until 2008. Because there are multiple academic changes, there is some thought that Thomas’ path to Tech might be accelerated by going to junior college.

PRUNTY CONFIRMED THAT Hargrave cornerback Ras-I Dowling, a 2006 and 2007 Virginia signee, has met NCAA academic requirements that will enable him to enroll at UVa this summer.

Dowling, likely to play safety at UVa, and Prunty agrees with comparisons to former Cavalier defensive back Percy Ellsworth.
 

Cavs, Heels to vie for final berth
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 26, 2007

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. - In the wee hours of Friday morning, Virginia officially learned what it already expected.

With an offensive explosion, second-seeded North Carolina blasted North Carolina State, 14-5, instantly upping the stakes for today’s bracket-ending contest between the Tar Heels and Cavaliers in the ACC Baseball Tournament at 1 p.m.

The winner advances to Sunday’s title game to face the champ from the other bracket. This afternoon’s loser, however, gets an early start playing the waiting game - the 16 regional sites will be announced Sunday at 3:15 p.m.; the entire 64-team field is unveiled Monday at 12:30 p.m.

“Going into the tournament and seeing how it was set up, I was just hoping that our game against North Carolina would be for the right to go to the title game,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “Fortunately, it has worked out that way and we have a huge opportunity.”

It would not have been that way had the Wolfpack upset UNC, which lost its opener to Georgia Tech on Wednesday. At 0-2 in the tournament, UNC would have been eliminated and Virginia would have secured a berth in the title game. The prospects of playing a meaningless game worried O’Connor.

“You hate to do that in the postseason,” the skipper said. “I am glad that we are in a game that if we win we go to the championship and if we don’t we are going home, because I hope we are in the same situation next weekend where if you win the [third] game you win the regional.”

North Carolina (46-12) and Virginia (43-13) are expected to secure top seeds in the NCAA Tournament and the right to host the opening weekend of play, but the potential to become one of the eight national seeds magnifies with the fourth head-to-head contest between the rivals (UVa won two of three at UNC in March).

Also, many experts believe that the ACC will receive only two national seeds, an honor that guarantees a program the right to host a super regional if it advances that far.

A win, O’Connor said, would “help our power ranking and it helps our position nationally.”

Knowing what is at stake, O’Connor said he prefers having a veteran such as senior Casey Lambert (2-1, 1.26 ERA) on the mound. The southpaw, who was installed as Virginia’s No. 3 starter last weekend at Boston College, will be making his third career start.

“He’s been in our program for four years and he has done remarkable things,” O’Connor said. “I am excited to see him start, and hopefully he can prove that this is something that we can use for the following weekend.”

Virginia pitching coach Karl Kuhn said he would mentor Lambert the exact same way he did when the former St. Anne’s-Belfield product was closing games out of the bullpen.

“The ball is still round and the plate is 60 feet, 6 inches away and it is 17 inches,” Kuhn said. “Casey doesn’t care [whether he is starting or closing] and he’s just going to go as long as he can and give our team the best chance to win.

“He is a warrior and he is going to do whatever he can for his teammates. He is going to go grind it out.”

Lambert, who will be opposed by North Carolina freshman Alex White (5-4, 3.66 ERA), has two examples to follow.

On Wednesday, sophomore Jacob Thompson pitched eight innings, allowing only one unearned run in a 6-1 win over N.C. State. Sean Doolittle sparkled on Thursday, giving Georgia Tech one earned run in 5.1 innings.

Virginia’s bullpen, which has logged 4.2 scoreless innings in the tournament, has also helped drop the team’s earned run average to 2.72, the third-best mark in the nation.

The results have been welcomed by Kuhn after watching his pitchers implode during a three-game losing streak two weeks ago.

“I think veterans learn from their mistakes,” Kuhn said. “[North Carolina State and Coastal Carolina] pushed us to the limit and they took it to us and you have two choices: you can fold or you can learn from it and pitch better and be better.

“At least for right now, they have decided to take the bull by the horns and take command of the game. They have made people hit us to beat us. You like your chances no matter who you are if you force contact rather than giving things away.”

It certainly helps, Kuhn added, when the pitchers can rely on solid defense behind them. In the first two ACC Tournament games, the Cavaliers turned four double plays.

“You have to credit our defense,” Kuhn said. “We couldn’t do anything without that piece of the puzzle.”

The same could be said for Virginia’s timely hitting. In fact, Virginia is hitting 14 for 33 (.424) after the fifth inning in the tournament.

“I say it a lot in our dugout: ‘Win the back-half of the game,’” O’Connor said. “We have done a great job late in the first two games.”

Even still, O’Connor said he would enjoy seeing better results throughout an entire game, something that will be needed in the NCAA Tournament.

“We have given up two runs in the two games, but there is going to come a point, either in this championship or the next championship that we try to win, that we are going to have to win a game 9-8,” O’Connor said. “We are pitching very well, but some of the teams that we will play will have good offensive teams, and we’re going to need to score quite a few runs.”

 

U.Va.-UNC winner set for final
Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 12:07 AM

The stakes will be high today when Virginia and North Carolina meet in the ACC baseball tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. The winner of their 1 p.m. clash - the teams' fourth meeting this season - advances to tomorrow's ACC championship game at The Baseball Grounds.

U.Va. (43-13) and UNC (46-12), along with Georgia Tech and N.C. State, make up division B of the eight-team ACC tournament. Tomorrow's 1 p.m. championship game will match the winners of divisions A and B. An appearance in the championship game would boost the Cavaliers' chances of earning one of the top eight seeds in the 64-team NCAA tournament.

No. 3 seed Virginia is 2-0 in the ACC tourney, having beaten N.C. State on Wednesday and Georgia Tech on Thursday. No. 2 seed Carolina is 1-1. The Tar Heels lost to Georgia Tech on Wednesday, then whipped N.C. State in a game that, because of rain, started late Thursday and ended early yesterday morning.

UNC, with a 21-9 conference record, finished the regular season first in the ACC's Coastal Division, a game ahead of U.Va. (19-9).

Under the ACC's tiebreaking system, that would send the Heels to the championship game if they beat U.Va. and Georgia Tech defeats N.C. State today. UNC, Virginia and Georgia Tech would each finish 2-1 in division B, and the first tiebreaker in that case would be winning percentage in regular-season ACC games.

Georgia Tech (1-1 in the tournament) and N.C. State (0-2) have been mathematically eliminated from championship contention.

U.Va. took two of three games from UNC in their March series in Chapel Hill. Comcast SportsNet will televise today's game and tomorrow's final. - Jeff White

 

Beyond the arc: NCAA extends 3-point range
Virginia coaches welcome change; new rule to take effect in 2008-09 season
Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

It wasn't exactly a layup for J.R. Reynolds, but a jumper from a fraction farther than 19 feet, 9 inches -- the current 3-point line for NCAA men's basketball -- never fazed the former University of Virginia star.

"A couple steps in, you were at the free throw line, so it was close," Reynolds said yesterday.

Starting in 2008-09, the 3-point line won't be so close for college men. The line for women will remain at 19-9, but the NCAA's Playing Rules Oversight Panel, as expected, yesterday approved a proposal to extend the men's arc to 20-9.

"We believe this alteration will provide more space between the perimeter players and post players," Larry Keating, chairman of the NCAA's basketball rules committee, said early this month when another NCAA committee recommended extending the line.

"I think it makes sense," Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said of the rule change. "I think it creates better spacing for our game. I think it also gives you an opportunity to define roles a little tighter as a coach. I think it will bring more strategy into the game. One foot can take a kid out of his range.

"I think it's good. Obviously, being a year off, it gives people a chance to acclimate to it."

In 1986-87, when the 3-pointer was introduced to the college game, Division I men's teams averaged 9.2 attempts and shot 38.4 percent from beyond the arc. A decade later, treys taken by each team had soared to an average of 17.1.

In 2006-07, men's teams averaged nearly 19 3-point attempts per game and shot 35 percent from beyond the line. U.Va., led by guards Reynolds and Sean Singletary, made 257 treys, the most of any ACC team. The Cavaliers averaged 22.1 3-point attempts, also a league high.

Virginia Tech, by contrast, made (163) and attempted (449) the fewest 3-pointers of any ACC team.

"Maybe it will bring everyone back to us," Greenberg said. "On the other hand, we've got a better shooting team coming in right now."

It's too early to tell what impact the rule change will have on the Hokies in 2008-09, Greenberg said. "I don't know who our team will be two years from now . . . We won't even deal with it this year."

University of Richmond coach Chris Mooney is among those who believe the 3-pointer has become too routine in college hoops. Like U.Va.'s Dave Leitao and Greenberg, he welcomes the rule change.

"I'm glad they did it, but I think the effect will be negligible," Mooney said. "Some of the bigger guys who, I think, the 3-point line is a little newer for in college, they're probably more comfortable with their foot [just behind the current arc]. For most perimeter players, I don't know if they have making range, but they have shooting range back to 22 feet."

The international 3-point line is 20-6. The NBA line is set at 23-9.

"It's a big difference," said Reynolds, who hopes to be selected in next month's NBA draft and who's been working on extending his range. "It's not so much a difference in the corners, but you can tell when you get out to the wings and top of the key."

Mooney places a high value on long-range shooters in his spread offense. UR averaged 19.6 attempts from beyond the arc in 2006-07. The Spiders made an average of 6.9 treys, which ranked sixth among A-10 teams.

"If it spreads the court a little bit, then I think it's great," Mooney said of the new line. "I think that's the purpose."