Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 25, 1994 TAG: 9403250192
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GRANT HALL SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. LENGTH: Medium
Southern Cal's Lisa Leslie, the national player of the year, had 18 points and 16 rebounds despite a 16-minute scoring drought in the middle of the game.
Tina Thompson, a 6-foot-3 freshman from Los Angeles, complemented Leslie inside with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
"Leslie and Thompson made it difficult for us," said Debbie Ryan, Virginia's coach. "Also, we didn't handle their pressure well early in the game."
Before UVa could turn around, the Women of Troy (26-3) had raced to a 15-3 lead by the first timeout.
The Cavaliers (27-5) then began to take hold behind the inside play of Wendy Palmer (17 points, 10 rebounds). From 28-16, Virginia pulled back to 28-22 before Leslie and Thompson hit follow shots to make it a 10-point game.
Tracy Atwater, a 5-7 senior, then hit two three-point shots to help Southern Cal go up 45-30 at halftime. Virginia came out raging in the first six minutes of the second half behind Charleata Beale (13 points), freshman guard Tora Suber (12 points) and sophomore sparkplug Jenny Boucek.
No sooner had Boucek tied the score at 47 on a layup with 13:50 left than Southern Cal point guard Nicky McCrimmon stuck a bank shot and a jumper. Soon the Women of Troy led 60-50.
"We were still clawing after we tied the game, and we did sputter," Ryan said. "Right away they went back up by 10. It was difficult to sustain anything. It seemed like we struggled all night."
UVa trailed 69-59 with five minutes left, but could get no closer.
"I'm not at all discouraged by our performance," Ryan said. "I think we'll take something very positive from this game for next season. USC just hit some great shots against pretty good defense."
The Women of Troy advance to meet Louisiana Tech, a 71-68 winner over top-ranked Tennessee, in the Mideast final on Saturday night.
"Virginia is very talented, very physical and very explosive," said Cheryl Miller, Southern Cal's first-year coach. "Palmer was incredible on the boards. Virginia is a young team and will be a powerhouse next year."
Ryan credited the Women of Troy's aggressiveness in the press with disrupting the Cavs early in the game.
"I felt we dug ourselves in a hole," Ryan said.
A crowd of 3,857 at 19,600-seat Bud Walton Arena seemed wrung out from Louisiana Tech's upset victory, but found its voice again when Virginia rallied early in the second half. Southern Cal shot 45.7 percent (32 of 70) to UVa's 36.2 percent (25 of 69), while outrebounding the Cavaliers 45-43. The Trojans had eight turnovers to Virginia's 14.
"We dug down hard on Leslie and Thompson, but they have a great post game," Palmer said. "They are a great team."
Said Suber, "We kept our composure and kept attacking their press. I think we were energetic, but Leslie started shooting from outside. I guess we were so excited it just slipped away from us."
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB