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Virginia Beats Marquette, 84-76
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Nov. 17, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia women’s basketball captured its second consecutive home win at the John Paul Jones Arena with an 84-76 victory over Marquette on Friday.
The Cavaliers improved to 3-0 on the season, while the Golden Eagles fell to 1-1.
UVa scored the first bucket and went ahead by seven, 14-7, before MU came back to tie the game at 14-14. The Golden Eagles then forged ahead by seven, 27-20, until UVa junior Sharneé Zoll (Marlboro, N.J.) scored seven straight points to tie the game at 27-27. Virginia closed out the stanza with a 10-1 run to hold a six-point edge at halftime, 48-42.
In the second half, the Cavaliers were ahead by 11 points 53-42, before Marquette came back within one, 53-52. UVa then re-built its lead to as many as nine, 72-63 with 5:19 to go. MU worked its way back to within two points, 78-76 with just 44 second remaining. Zoll drove into the paint for the layup and converted the three-point play following a MU foul with 33 second left. Freshman Monica Wright (Woodbridge, Va.) made a key steal and made three free throws in waning seconds to seal the win.
Zoll paced UVa with 24 points, tying her career high. She also dished out a season-high nine assists. Wright followed with a season-high 18 points, while sophomore Lyndra Littles (Washington, D.C.) finished with 16 points. Senior Siedah Williams (Cleveland, Ohio) grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Christina Quaye led Marquette with 19 points, while Erin Monfre added 18 points, all from three-point range.
Overall, Virginia out-rebounded Marquette, 36-32.
Virginia concludes its three-game homestand on Monday, Nov. 20 with Liberty. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at JPJA.
QUOTES
Debbie Ryan, Virginia head coach
“It’s a very fun team to coach, and we didn’t play very good defense tonight, and Marquette posed some interesting problems for us. They were strong inside and took advantage of some of the things that we gave them. Christina Quaye is a really good player. We scouted her and found trouble up there last year, but this year she sort of had her way with us. My team played really well. We found the open man a lot. We did a nice job of running the ball when they allowed us to. Staying on the board with them was a plus and I feel as if we got some good contributions from everybody that played tonight.”
“Sharneé was huge; she had a great night. She knew that she had to pick up some of the slack and it was important for her to step up and score some, although I wasn’t expecting 24 points; 8-for-11 was tremendous too; 2-for-4 from the 3-point line. We put a lot on her and expect a lot from her, and she’s someone who’s really stepped up as a leader for us.”
“Lyndra Littles did a great job coming in after what we think is a broken nose. She came into the second half with a little bit of a headache and kept doing a great job. We didn’t go to her enough in the first half. During the second we really started looking to her when they went to that matchup zone because the inside was a little spread, so we found her a little bit more, and I think that’s when Sharneé was able to pick up her assists. We were able to spread the floor with our shooters, and she was really good at finding her spots and taking it really hard to the basket.”
“Lyndra has changed (from last season) in every way; you can tell by her body. Her fitness level is a lot better. She has a lot more confidence. She’s been a little bit more consistent in practice, which means that she’s going to be more consistent throughout the year. She’s just turned into a real tough player, and it’s tough to play without her.”
“Paulisha can be that person (a Tiffany Sarden-like player). You can see how she gets to the basket and somehow you just don’t think that there’s anything there, but then she finds a way to get there and then she jumps and hangs. It’s tough to guard; she’s got some ups, and she’s a tremendous athlete. She just finds her way. She just has to get a little bit more used to the speed of the college game, and we’ll see an incredible player moving forward. Actually she was pretty incredible tonight.”
“How about the one time when Britnee drove and had a layup, and then she stopped and was like, I think I’m supposed to pass this and I’m, like, no just keep going! She will grow by leaps and bounds, but you can see that she’s a solid defender. She’s got good speed and quickness. She’s a good athlete, and she’s someone that’s going to help us as we go through the year.”
“I’m good with ten at the moment but we might add a player or two. It just depends on a couple of things. We’ll just see how things fall.”
“We’re trying to get the freshman used to the system. We have a lot of stuff in offensively. We’re just trying to get them to learn everything and just be comfortable; I really want them to be comfortable. I was really pleased with Paulisha Kellum tonight, because she came in and gave us very solid minutes, whether she was at the point or she was at the two. She was really solid there, and defensively I was really pleased with her. I think defensively is where they have to make their biggest strides. That’s where we usually are a pretty good team, and we have some strides to make there. So our starting five is pretty solid with the defense, but some of our other players need to get a little better there.”
“I’m really pleased with their aggression and the way that they take it to the basket. It’s always a good thing if you can make more free throws than the other team takes. When that happens, then you know that you’re doing a good job, so that’s something that I was really pleased with tonight.”
“I didn’t have a lot of choices, so I had to get comfortable (with putting in the freshman off the bench) really quick. I just have to coach them, and be positive with them, and help them. But they’ve all played on fairly high levels, so when you’ve played at high levels, you’re used to the stress and the strain of a basketball game. They have a lot of support. They were also all playing before tonight anyway; they’ve all got a lot of experience. I’m not concerned with their experience level. I’m just going to coach them and get them as good as I can as quick as I can.”
“We’ll play our fourth NCAA team (Liberty) next. They’re big. They’ve got triplets. They’re big inside. They’ve got shooters all around so they will pose a threat just like Marquette did. I’m glad that we got to play a team like Marquette, because Old Dominion is up and down, up and down, playing at your pace, and then Marquette comes in a they want to slow it down; they want to go zone. So we got a chance to look at the zone tonight, see it in different ways; that’s a matchup zone, they do a pretty good job with it. I was really pleased with the way that we handled it for the most part. Seeing it before Liberty gets here does help a bit, but I guess the rebounding’s going to be an issue; we’re going to have to work on stopping their inside game.”
Sharneé Zoll
Does this remind you of the BC game last year?
“No, I just had to redeem myself, because the last two games I didn’t play well…just doing whatever I can. If the team needed scoring, I scored. This was a team effort tonight, No one person did everything. All 10 of us contributed in a big way tonight.”
Does it feel weird saying 10, with two of your closest friends gone?
“Yeah, it’s strange, but we’ve been working hard. That’s what we’ve got to do, fight through…it’s a long season.”
How about Britnee Milner?
“Britnee’s been doing really well in practice. She’s one of the hardest workers on the team. She comes in a lot of nights and gets extra shooting in. She wants to learn. She asks questions and wants to learn and it’s good getting to see her play.”
Does the end of the game remind you of the overtime game against Maryland last year, except with Monica taking that shot?
“Yeah, a little bit, but the game shouldn’t come down to the last shot. The lay-up was in and out, and there’s nothing more you can do. She got to the basket, like you said, she doesn’t have any fear, so I was cool with her taking that shot anytime because any game where you have to take that shot, Monica is on. I want her taking it. “
How is the team different with the new players this year?
“It gives us a lot of depth, not only in numbers but in different types of lineups. I think I’ve said before that now we don’t just put people in and it’s a faster line up, or slower and faster, but now we can go smaller and stronger or bigger and stronger than we’ve done in the past couple of years. All of these girls bring something different to the game, and they bring a passion for the game that not many people have.”
You said you needed to pick your game up. Did you do anything different?
“I had a lot more fun. I was thinking over the game too much. Coach was over there laughing with the foul line over there, I don’t know if anyone saw. We were laughing, and I feel that when I play loose, I play better, because if you let the game come to you and don’t force anything, you’ll play a lot better. Coach has helped me by watching some films. I knew I couldn’t let my teammates down so I had to play well.
Lyndra Littles dominated down low, Did you feel it was good to get her the ball?
“It’s always good to get her the ball, and she was hurting a lot tonight, because she had a broken nose. I really admire her for sticking through it and not sulking on the fact that she broke her nose and that she was in pain. She was down there fighting for boards, going harder for the basket in than in the first half before she broke her nose. She had no fear and I admire her for that.”
Was this a different Marquette team than you played last year?
“Yes, they ran a lot more than we thought they would. Last year, they had a point guard that liked to slow it up a lot more…she was a good point guard. This year Ellis was looking to push it more, Monfre also. They have five legit shooters, over 30 percent shooters and you don’t see that very often.”
Do you enjoy playing good competition early in the season?
“Of course. I mean, we’re in the toughest conference in the nation. You can’t play a joke non-conference schedule if you want to be ready for your conference schedule. You have to play games like this where you learn how to win. If you play 40-point game you really don’t learn how to win it down the stretch. You learn things about yourself and your teammates. We learned a lot about each other and about our character. We improved as individuals tonight. It’s good to learn earlier in the season than later.”
Did you also learn how not to celebrate with Siedah (Williams)?
“I hit her right in the mouth! She has a mouth guard too, but she got mad a little bit, but she got over it. She’s fine.”
Monica Wright
Are you at all hesitant to take the big shot when it’s needed? You don’t seem to have any fear at all. Can you talk about your approach to the game and your attitude?
“Towards the end Coach had called this play for me, Chicago. And just running the clock down a little bit. I missed the lay-up. I felt pretty bad, but Coach said it was okay though, so it was fine.”
Can you talk about the other two freshmen and how they’ve stepped up?
“Jayna and Paulisha always go 110 percent, in practice and in games. They’ve helped me and pushed me as well as I have pushed them. They step up when we need them. Paulisha did a good job on the boards today. Jayna found her place in the post. They both did a good job stepping up.”
Terri Mitchell, Marquette Head Coach
“Well, it’s so early in the year and we thought this would be a great road test early, and I think we’re going to come away from this game with a lot of things to work on. Obviously we’re not going to win any awards for our defense. I thought our players fought and they had character and at the end of the day Virginia just played a great game. They penetrated well, they found their open shooters, and they really had some huge offensive boards that broke our back at key times, where I felt like in the last 10 minutes of the second half we did a much better job with penetration we were switching our defense up and then they’d get an offensive board. Zoll just did an awesome job of getting to the hoop throughout the entire game and she is an amazing player and we knew we were playing an amazing player and I know that in the end this game is going to help us, it’s going to help us get where we need to go in the Big East playing such a great team in Virginia, where going to address everything we need to tomorrow and move on.”
“I thought that was an entertaining game. From a coaching perspective, from a subbing, from a strategy, from the fan, obviously when one team puts up 84 points and the other one 76, that’s the kind of game fans like. But, we’re going to walk away from this knowing where we need to get better. I sound like a broken record and I apologize for that, but you can’t over analyze the second game of the season. That’s what I told my players, “We’re not going to over analyze this. No one’s going to divide, not one’s going to be upset, no one’s going to go off over a cliff.” We got beat by a very good Virginia team, well coached on their home court and at some point we got to get better and we got to be able to compete and beat a Virginia, and we’re not that far off.”
“Well, we are trying to play faster, but obviously there takes some coaching into this that if a team is having a lot of success with you playing faster then we have to change the tempo. We wanted to change the tempo with out defense and that’s when we start getting into zone, they kind of backed up a little bit and more clock got used, so we’re used to playing that way, we played that way last year and we’re going to do whatever it takes to win. We thought that was a good strategy to win, but like I said we didn’t finish the defense with rebounding and I give them all the credit in the world. It doesn’t look like a lot of offensive boards; obviously they shot 68 percent in the first half and only had one. The eight that they had in the second half I think just came at critical moments where it just took the life out of us.”
“They’re not playing like freshmen. Monica’s not playing like a freshman. We’re going to be big Virginia fans now. We’re big Brenna McGuire fans, just so you know we have an awesome respect and at Marquette for the McGuire family and so we kind of cheer for her and obviously Virginia from a far because of how we feel about their family. She’s a senior, that had nothing to do with your question, but I wanted to get that in there.”
“Yes, she does, but she hasn’t done it consistently in games, so to see her do that tonight and our players identify (her). All we’re asking from our team identify who’s on and get them screens and get them open and call plays. What I’m trying to do with Krystal Ellis and Erin Monfre is try and not get them to look at the bench so much. We had a starting point guard for four straight years, she’s gone. Now Erin and Krystal are running the team. So the fact that they’re making calls for each other and identifying who’s on and they did that for Erin, and the people who set the screens are as much responsible for Erin draining the bucket. It’s a great builder for this program and for players who got the minutes to move on. We have four games next week in six days, so we’ll pick a lot out of this game and hopefully continue with some wins next week.”
“We’d continue to play if we could. We’ve been great close games, but we’ve been coming up on the losing end, but it’d be great if they’d ever want to play again we’d love to.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
1 2 - FinalMarquette (1-1) 42 34 - 76Virginia (3-0) 48 36 - 84