COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR : No Miracles for Virginia : Semifinal: Stanford rallies, then survives confusion in closing moments to defeat No. 1 Cavaliers, 66-65.
It wasn’t enough that Stanford already had withstood one frantic finish against Virginia on Saturday in the NCAA semifinals.
It had to do it twice.
The Cavaliers were given another opportunity to win when 0.8 of a second was put back on the clock after one official thought the game was over.
But what led to third-ranked Stanford’s 66-65 victory over No. 1 Virginia in front of 12,421 at the Sports Arena occurred long before Cavalier guard Dawn Staley’s last-gasp, 26-footer bounced off the glass as time ran out for the second time.
The frantic closing play might have seemed like the difference, but in a game with two endings, it was not the only factor that led to Stanford’s victory.
There was Cardinal reserve guard Kate Paye’s marvelous second-half work on Staley, limiting the All-American to six points in the final 7 1/2 minutes. And there was the decision to leave Stanford guard Molly Goodenbour open in the second half when she made three three-point shots in a five-minute span to help the Cardinal rally.
That led to the dramatic double ending, which resulted in Stanford reaching today’s championship game at 1:05 p.m. against Western Kentucky
One ending came with Staley chasing an official off the court when he failed to notice that Virginia had called time out after a sideline scramble. Order was restored--sort of--and 0.8 of a second was put back on the clock with Stanford leading, 66-65.
Staley was the focal point of the second ending. Melanee Wagener passed to Staley, who put up the final, futile shot.
“I still can’t believe this is over,†said Staley, who was inconsolable on the court.
She, and almost everyone else, had Georgia Tech on their minds. Or at least Georgia Tech’s miracle victory over the USC men’s basketball team in the NCAA tournament.
“We always think we’re going to win the game,†said Staley, who scored 19 points. “And Georgia Tech won with that amount of time left. We practice those shots a lot every day.â€
For Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer, the parallels were getting a bit ominous, even though the men’s game took place in Milwaukee.
“At first, I actually thought there was a foul against us and they were going to go to the line to win the game,†VanDerveer said. “When they put 0.8 seconds on the board, I thought, ‘Here we are like USC against Georgia Tech.’ â€
And why else would the Cavaliers think otherwise?
They hadn’t lost a game since a midseason stumble against Maryland. Virginia (32-2) regained its No. 1 ranking after beating Maryland in the second meeting and hadn’t been tested since last month’s ACC tournament.
“I’m kind of numb,†said a teary-eyed Virginia Coach Debbie Ryan. “Last year, we knew we’d have another chance with everybody coming back. This year is much more difficult than last year.â€
Last season, Virginia lost to Tennessee in overtime in the NCAA championship game. Staley and senior guard Tammi Reiss have said that they have had to live with that loss all year.
Saturday, the Cavaliers were able to execute their defensive game plan, holding Stanford to fewer than 69 points. Previously, Stanford (29-3) was 28-0 when it scored more than 69 points and 0-3 when scoring 69 or fewer.
“That’s where we wanted to be,†said Ryan, whose team shot 34.8% and went 0 for 11 from three-point range. “But we couldn’t put the ball in the basket ourselves.â€
Virginia’s Heather and Heidi Burge, the 6-foot-5 identical twins from Palos Verdes Estates, were unable to succeed on offense because of foul trouble. Heather, who was averaging 17.4 points, was held to 10 points and six rebounds in 26 minutes. Heidi scored five points in 11 minutes.
Center Val Whiting led Stanford with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
“In the first half, our shots were not falling and we got down on ourselves,†Virginia’s Audra Smith said.
Even so, the Cavaliers led almost the entire game with the exception of the first few minutes. With 9:09 remaining, Virginia had an eight-point lead.
“We kept saying, ‘Let’s put them away,’ †guard Dena Evans said. “ ‘We need a last knockout punch.’ We thought we had them.â€
Stanford rallied from four eight-point deficits. Goodenbour started the final comeback with the first of her three second-half three-pointers. She was left wide open by Charleata Beale and cut the lead to 51-47 with 7:27 remaining.
Goodenbour made two more, and her third three-pointer pulled Stanford within 59-57. But the Cardinal did not take the lead until Whiting made two free throws with 1:42 left, making it 65-63.
Kelly Dougherty’s free throw with 26 seconds to play provided the winning point, offset by Staley’s layup with 11 seconds left.
That set up the drama of 0.8 seconds.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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