Virginia Advances in ACC Tourney With 89-82 Win Over Clemson

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March 1, 2007

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The No. 8 seed Virginia Cavaliers eliminated No. 9 seed Clemson in the first round of the 2007 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament with an 89-82 win on Thursday at Greensboro Coliseum.

Virginia improved to 17-13 overall, while the Lady Tigers finished the season at 12-28 overall. UVa now advances to the quarterfinal round against top-seeded and No. 1 nationally ranked Duke on Friday, March 2 at 3 p.m. The Regional Sports Network will televise the game. Charlottesville’s WINA Radio (1070 AM) and XM Radio 193 will also broadcast the game live.

Clemson jumped out to a six-point lead, 20-14. UVa battled back to tie the game at 32-32. The Lady Tigers rebuilt their lead to nine, 41-32, with the help of six three-point buckets in the stanza. ACC Rookie of the Year Monica Wright (Woodbridge, Va.) stole the ball, and dribbled the full length of the court for a spinning lay-up to pull UVa within three. The Cavaliers trailed by five at halftime, 59-44.

“I felt like we were absolutely horrible defensively in the first half,” Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan said. “We needed to get organized.”

CU pushed its lead to seven to open the second half. The Cavaliers then utilized a 15-4 run take over the lead for good. Senior Brenna McGuire (Winchester, Mass.) nailed three-pointer to give UVa the lead. The `Hoos pushed their lead to seven, 74-67, after junior Sharnee Zoll (Marlboro, N.J.) missed a trey that was rebounded by freshman Paulisha Kellum (Upper Marlboro, Md.). Kellum then dished the ball into senior Siedah Williams (Cleveland, Ohio) who made the easy lay-up and added a free throw following a CU foul on the bucket. Clemson came back within one, 78-77 with 4:58 to go. UVa responded with 14 made free throws down the stretch for the win.

“We decided to hit back in the second half,” Ryan added. “Obviously our offensive performance was really incredible.”

Sophomore Lyndra Littles (Washington, D.C.) came off the bench for a career-high 32 points and 10 rebounds for her 15th double-double of the season (20th of her career). For her efforts, Littles was named the Aeropostale Player of the Game. Wright added 24 points, three steals and a career-best two blocks. McGuire finished with 11 points, including two threes. Kellum added 10 points.

D’Lesha Lloyd led Clemson with 23 points and 11 boards. Susan Yenser had 21 points, including four first-half treys. Lele Hardy followed with 14 points.

Overall, CU out-rebounded UVa, 47-38.

“We’re going to be patient, play hard, and let the chips fall where they may,” Littles said about playing undefeated and No. 1 Duke.

ACC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
FIRST ROUND

                    	1	2	-	Final#9 Clemson (12-18)	49	33	-	82#8 Virginia (17-13)	44	45	-	89