Cavs rebound to beat Hokies

GREENSBORO, N.C. — If it is supposedly hard to beat an opponent three times in a season, in theory it should be considerably tougher against an in-state rival.
It only took 20 minutes and a rebounding clinic for Virginia to dispatch that theory on the opening day of the ACC tournament.
Facing Virginia Tech, the event’s 11th-seeded team, for the third time proved little challenge for Virginia as it recorded a 66-57 victory, the biggest margin of victory in the series this season. It marked the Cavaliers sixth straight win over the Hokies.
With the victory, the Cavaliers (23-8) advanced to play third-seeded Duke (24-4) tonight at 8 p.m in the quarterfinals. The loss ended a trying season for Virginia Tech (12-18) that included only one victory over an ACC foe since February.
The positive outcome came just four days after the Cavaliers blew a chance to claim the No. 5 seed in the tournament with a loss at Georgia Tech.
“I was pleased. Our kids played like they should have at Georgia Tech,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. “I was really pleased with the whole atmosphere.
“I think we probably played some of our best defense of the year the first half. I was very proud of our performance the first half.“
Virginia senior center Aisha Mohammed dominated the glass in the contest, grabbing 16 of the Cavaliers’ 46 rebounds, and scored a team-high 16 points. Lyndra Littles and Monica Wright added 14 and 11 points, respectively.
“Before the game, Coach [Ryan] said just go in there and play like you are 6 years old,“ Mohammed said. “She told us not to think about anything and to just play. The whole game we were just playing.“
“Lyndra, Aisha and Moni set the tone so well early and yet they shared the ball so well,” Ryan said. “Everybody was involved the whole time. They did a great job of leading the way for us tonight.”
To Virginia Tech’s credit, it tried to mount a momentary comeback in the second half. The Hokies managed to cut its deficit to single digits in the late stages of the second half, but Virginia regained its form as Mohammed scooped up a loose ball and kissed a lay up off the backboard. Mohammed’s shot came as the shot clock expired with 5:28 remaining, and Littles then nailed back-to-back jumpers, the last of which put the Cavaliers up 64-51.
The Hokies, who hit 12 free throws in the second half, could not get their deficit under nine points after the break.
One reason Virginia Tech was able to trim into the Cavaliers’ lead centered around the inability for Ryan to play forward Kelly Hartig extended minutes. The sophomore played only 14 minutes, including just six in the second half, after she was plagued with foul trouble as she picked up two in each half.
“I have to have Kelly Hartig play with less fouls every night,“ Ryan said of Hartig, who had five rebounds.
Virginia fans can credit a pair of lesser known scorers: Britnee Millner and Ariana Moorer. The duo combined for three 3-pointers in the second half, each of which seemed to shift the emotion to the Cavaliers’ side.
“I felt like in the second half we let up a lit little bit and let them back in the game for a couple of segments,“ Ryan said. “But overall I was pretty proud of my team’s performance. Every time they made a run we had an answer. We did a fairly good job on the offensive end, so I was pretty pleased with the game all the way around. But Tech is always a hard game for us. It’s an in-state rivalry, a very fierce in-state rivalry and the games are never easy.“
In the first half, Virginia scored 17 second-chance points as it grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and took a 39-21 lead. During the opening session, the Cavaliers owned a staggering 31-11 rebounding advantage at halftime.
“They were just beasts on the boards and manhandled us,“ Virginia Tech coach Beth Dunkenberger said. “The first half we came out very flat and Virginia played like a team that lost their last regular season game and was trying to make a statement.“
Virginia also showcased solid defense early as Virginia Tech struggled from the field, shooting just 30.8 percent (8 of 26). Shanel Harrison, who was called for a technical in the first half, and Nikki Davis had the biggest troubles, combining to make just 1 of their first 10 field goals.
After both teams showed early signs of jitters and Virginia Tech took a 4-2 lead, the Cavaliers took command of the game with a 12-4 run capped by a lay up from Mohammed with 12:24 left.
Virginia continued to build on its lead as the first half progressed as Mohammed and Wright each scored 10 of their points before the break. Mohammed also had 10 first-half rebounds.
“I didn’t know I had a double-double in the first half because Coach [Ryan] didn’t say anything,” Mohammed said. “I was just out there playing and trying to contribute from anywhere.”
Virginia Tech was paced by a 21-point effort from forward Utahya Drye, who made seven of her 16 shots from the field.
“As far as my individual play, I was trying to let my shot, let it go because I felt like I was on for a little while, and whenever they stopped falling, that’s when I knew I had to pick it up on defense,“ Drye said. “You just do the other little things - just because my shot is not falling doesn’t mean I need to take a play off on defense.“

Lay ups ...

Mohammed 16 rebounds are the most in an ACC tournament game for a Cavalier since Jenny Boucek collected 17 rebounds in 1995 against Duke. … UVa last played Duke in the ACC tournament in 2007. The Blue Devils won 79-58. ... The Cavaliers have lost 15 straight against Duke, a streak dating back to Jan. 30, 2000. ... Littles (ankle) played with less pain and did not appear to be bothered by the injury as she did in recent weeks. “I was really pleased with Lyndra being able to recover and she wasn’t so tender on that foot,“ Ryan said.
... Moorer finished with nine points for UVa, including seven in the second half. The rookie point guard also added three assists, three rebounds and two steals. “I thought Ariana gave us really good minutes at the point position,“ Ryan said. “She really played intelligently. She was able to find the open man sometimes and she really knocked the ball down for us when she was open and that’s what a good point guard does; being able to knock the ball down the way she did was very good. She is getting better with each game ... almost had double figures tonight. But I’m real pleased with the way she is playing right now. We just keep on working on all of the aspects of her game.“