Story Links
Feb. 15, 2000
#21/22 Virginia: (19-6, 11-2)atClemson (16-8, 7-5)
Feb. 17, 2000 – 7:00 p.m.
Littlejohn Coliseum (11,020) – Clemson, S.C.
Radio: WINA 1070 AM
TV: none
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia begins the final stretch before the ACC tournament and has adaunting task of playing Clemson on the road as it fights to keep up withleague leading N.C. State. The Cavaliers have won two straight and 15 ofits last 17 games.
Clemson is 8-1 at home and have won four straight in Littlejohn Coliseum.They are 4-1 against ACC opponents at home including wins over NorthCarolina and N.C. State. Their only conference loss at home was deliveredby Maryland. Virginia is 4-2 against conference opponents on the road. The Cavaliers are a half-game behind the Wolfpack in the leaguestandings. With a win by Virginia tonight against Clemson and a win by theWolfpack tonight at Duke, Sunday’s game between N.C. State and Virginiacould be for first place in the league standings. Virginia pulled out a 57-55 win over pesky Arkansas State on Sunday whenRenee Robinson hit two free throws with .4 seconds remaining in the game.The 57 points was Virginia’s lowest output of the season. This is the best start to an ACC season for the Cavaliers since the1994-95 season. That year, Virginia had a 13-0 conference record throughthe first 13 games and went on to an undefeated 16-0 conference record.
This week, Virginia moved up one spot in the AP poll to number 21 anddropped on place to 22 in the USA Today poll. Virginia has been ranked forfour straight weeks. The Cavaliers entered the polls for the first timethis season on Jan. 24 and were ranked 24th in the USA Today poll and 25 inthe AP poll. Virginia is ranked 17th in the latest RPI ranking.
The Series with Clemson
Tonight’s game is the 49th meeting between the two teams. Virginia holds a27-21 edge in the series and have won the last four meetings. TheCavaliers are 10-11 vs. the Tigers in Littlejohn Coliseum.
Six games in the series have gone into overtime including the game earlierthis season when Virginia defeated Clemson 77-74 in double overtime on Jan.20.
How the Teams Match Up
| Virginia | Clemson | |
| Scoring | 53.4 | 64.0 |
| Points Allowed | 65.5 | 59.7 |
| Rebounds | 36.8 | 37.4 |
| Rebound Margin | -1.0 | -0.9 |
| FG % | .443 | .402 |
| FG% defense | .382 | .383 |
| 3-pt FG % | .306 | .287 |
| 3-pt FG/game | 4.9 | 3.0 |
| FT % | .715 | .697 |
| Assists | 15.2 | 12.2 |
| Turnovers | 17.8 | 15.8 |
| Blocks | 3.7 | 3.9 |
| Steals | 9.6 | 9.3 |
Virginia Defeats Clemson Earlier This Season
Renee Robinson hit a 18-foot jumper with 57 seconds remaining in the secondovertime to give Virginia its first lead of the period and Telisha Quarleshit the second of a two free throws with 10 seconds left to lift theCavaliers to a 77-74 win over Clemson On Jan. 20. The win extended theCavaliers’ win streak to 10 and put them in first place in the ACC.Lisa Hosac led Virginia with 19 points and 13 rebounds and was a perfect10-10 from the free throw line. Foul shots made the difference in the gamefor Virginia who made 30 of 36 shots from the line. Clemson was 11 of 16 from the charity stripe.
“Every time I thought the game was slipping away, Lisa (Hosac) would get tothe line and pull us back within two,” said Virginia head coach DebbieRyan. “She was the glue that kept us together.”
Clemson (11-7, 2-4) led the entire first half and 10 minutes of the secondhalf before Svetlana Volnaya hit two free throws at the 10:05 mark of thesecond half to give Virginia its first lead of the game 39-38. TheCavaliers built an eight-point lead with 4:00 minutes left in regulation,but Clemson ended the half with a 12-4 run. Nuria Forns hit a three-pointshot with 19 seconds remaining to tie the game 58-58 and missed along-range shot at the buzzer that would have won the game.
The Cavaliers had a two-point lead with 13 seconds to go in the firstovertime, but Angie Cossey scored on a driving lay-up with four seconds tosend the game into the second overtime.
Virginia fell behind by four points in the second overtime, but a Robinsonlayup and two free throws by Hosac tied the score at 74 with 3:05 left.Clemson missed shots on its next three possessions. The game ended as Hosacstole the ball from Cossey on the Tigers’ final possession and time expired.
Last Time Out: Cavaliers Win Thriller Over Arkansas State
Renee Robinson didn’t even give Debbie Ryan a chance to say no with thegame deadlocked at 55 and 7.7 seconds on the clock.
“She really wanted the last shot and I wasn’t going to deny somebody thatwas in my face before the timeout was even started,” Ryan said afterRobinson’s two free throws with fourth-tenths of a second left gave No. 22Virginia a 57-55 victory against Arkansas State.
Robinson took the inbound pass, dribbled up the right side and penetratedalong the baseline. Her shot wasn’t close and it appeared the game would goto overtime, but the officials called a foul on Natalie Goodall andRobinson won the game.
Robinson had earned the chance to win it in regulation with two hugebaskets in the final 69 seconds, each giving the Cavaliers a two-pointlead.
Virginia (19-6), which lost as the No. 8 team on the Lady Indians homefloor last season, almost took another hard fall until Robinson came to therescue.
She had only one field goal when she drove and banked in a 8-footer with1:09 to play to give Virginia a 53-51 lead. But the Lady Indians answeredon Tanisha Johnson’s basket with 46.8 seconds to play.
Robinson then drove into the middle of the Lady Indians’ defense as theshot clock wound down, finally rolling a scoop off the glass and in with19.7 seconds to play. This time, Jolie McKeirnan’s putback of Johnson’smiss tied it again.
Then it was up to Robinson to demand the ball and do something with it. Sheswished both foul shots to give the Cavaliers their 15th victory in thelast 17 games.
Virginia played the first half without scoring and rebounding leader SchuyeLaRue, benched for an unspecified violation of team rules, and trailed30-28 despite a career-high 12 points by Mitchelson, LaRue’s replacement.Julie Hagood led Arkansas State with 15 points and Johnson and KeeshiaEvans added 10 each.
Robinson Enjoying A Great Year
With five games remaining in the regular season, Renee Robinson already has125 assists for the season, surpassing her total of 88 she had as a junior.Robinson worked hard over the summer to get ready for her senior season andthe hard work has paid off. She currently leads the ACC in assists (5.0apg) and has had six or more assists in nine games this year. She matchedher career-high of nine assists in the N.C. State win (Jan. 17).
“I have never had a player improve from one year to the next as much asRenee,” said Head Coach Debbie Ryan. “She went from someone who was not aleader to become a leader of this team. She is making big plays at the endof games. She has done it in almost every game in one way or another.”Robinson is also averaging 9.2 points per game this season which is 6.2points over her career average coming into this season. She netted acareer-high 24 points in the win over ninth-ranked North Carolina (Jan. 6)and produced 19 points in the win over sixth-ranked N.C. State. She alsoled the Cavaliers with 15 points in the upset over ninth-ranked Duke.In her previous three seasons, she had only recorded double figures inscoring twice but this year alone has scored in double figures in 10 games.She is averaging 13.0 ppg vs. ranked opponents this season.
LaRue Leads All ACC Rookies In Scoring
Schuye LaRue is the ACC’s top scoring rookie is a strong candidate for ACCRookie of the Year. She is averaging 14.4 points per game and 7.5rebounds which ranks her fifth in scoring and sixth in rebounding in theACC. She is the league leader in field goal percentage (.584) and ranksthird in blocks (1.3 bpg).
She currently leads the Cavaliers in scoring, rebounding, field goalpercentage and blocks.
Cardiac Kids
Three of the Cavaliers’ last four games have been decided by an average oftwo points. Virginia defeated Georgia Tech 66-65 on Feb. 3, then lost toNorth Carolina 66-63 in overtime on Feb. 10. Then on Feb. 13, Virginiadefeated Arkansas State 57-55. The Georgia Tech and Arkansas State gameswere decided by free throws in less than 3 seconds on the clock.
Bench Improves Scoring Output
Virginia has gotten more offense out of its bench in the last two games.The bench has produced 13.0 points per game in the Florida State andArkansas State games which is an improvement over the 5.9 points per gamethey scored in the previous seven games. The most the bench scored in onegame this season was 42 points (vs. Grambling, Nov. 26), the least was two(vs. Wake Forest, Jan. 27).
Rising to the Occasion
Both Renee Robinson and Telisha Quarles have risen to the occasion whenplaying ranked opponents this year. Robinson is averaging 13.0 ppg vs.ranked opponents while Quarles is getting 15.2 ppg vs. ranked opponents.Below is a comparison of what they’ve done overall and against top teams:
| season average | vs. ranked opponents | |
| Quarles | 11.5 ppg | 15.2 ppg |
| Robinson | 9.0 ppg | 13.0 ppg |
The Schuye’s the Limit
If Schuye LaRue continues to lead the Cavaliers in scoring, rebounding andfield goal percentage. If she ends her rookie campaign as the team leaderin those three categories, she will match Cathy Grimes (1982) as the onlyother freshman in Virginia history to achieve the feat. Grimes and DawnStaley (1989) were the only other freshmen to lead the team in scoringwhile Chrissy Reese (1980), Grimes and Heather Burge (l990) all were thetop rebounders as rookies.
Robinson Moving On Up In Assists and Steals
Renee Robinson has 351 assists for her career which puts her in 8th placein Virginia history. She entered the season with 226 assists and with her125 assists this season, she moved ahead of Melissa Mahony in eighth place.Below is ranking of Virginia’s Top 10 assist leaders:
| 1. | Dawn Staley (1989-92) | 729 |
| 2. | Donna Holt (1985-88) | 561 |
| 3. | Dena Evans (1990-93) | 528 |
| 4. | Tora Suber (1994-97) | 504 |
| 5. | Nancy Mayer (l984-87) | 420 |
| 6. | Jenny Boucek (l993-96) | 397 |
| 7. | Tammi Reiss (1989-92) | 380 |
| 8. | Renee Robinson (1997-present) | 351 |
| 9. | Melissa Mahoney (l979-82) | 312 |
| 10. | Kim Silloway (1983-86) | 310 |
Robinson also is in the Top 10 in steals, holding onto eighth place. Belowis the ranking of Virginia’s Top 10 steals leaders:
| 1. | Donna Holt (1985-88) | 529 |
| 2. | Dawn Staley (1989-92) | 454 |
| 3. | Tonya Cardoza (1987-91) | 375 |
| 4. | Nancy Mayer (1984-87) | 240 |
| 5. | Daphne Hawkins (1985-88) | 228 |
| 6. | Tora Suber (1994-97) | 223 |
| 7. | Wendy Palmer (l993-96) | 219 |
| 8. | Renee Robinson (1997-present) | 195 |
| 9. | DeMya Walker (1996-99) | 192 |
| 10. | Heather Burge (1990-93) | 185 |