Littles’ UVa tenure: Rarely easy, always rewarding

It was quite common around the University of Virginia four years ago to spot one member of the school’s women’s basketball program donning a baseball cap.

Often crooked, the hat is a fitting reminder of the progression that senior Lyndra Littles made in life and with basketball for coach Debbie Ryan.

“I had to change her shot,” Ryan proclaimed. “I said, ‘Lyndra, do you normally shoot the ball that way?’ She said, ‘No, why?’

“I said, ‘Because you have the doggone hat on.’ She said, ‘Maybe I will take my hat off and learn to shoot the right way.’

“Seriously, that is what I dealt with. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Today, Littles will wrap up a stellar career at Virginia with her final home game as the No. 23 Cavaliers (20-7, 6-5 ACC) host Boston College (18-8, 6-5) in a battle for fifth place in the league standings.

For her career, the Washington, D.C., native has scored 1,769 points and grabbed 836 rebounds. She ranks fifth all-time in scoring — trailing only Dawn Staley, Heather Burge, Wendy Palmer and Tammi Reiss — and sits sixth in rebounding.

The storied career has not come without dramatic twists and turns in the classroom. In fact, Littles was certified by the NCAA during the first semester this season, missing the first nine games.

Since her return, Littles has made her impact felt. No player in the conference has scored more points in league games than the 6-foot-1 forward.

Two of those points will be remembered for a long time. With 3.8 seconds left on Thursday against Miami, Littles hit a leaning jumper as she glared at her defender, who was falling down.

The shot banked in to force overtime, where the Cavaliers dominated, due in no small part to a 3-pointer from Littles.

“She called it,” Virginia guard Monica Wright said with a grin. “I am joking.”

Littles joked about the shot, too.

“If it goes in, you can’t complain,” she said. “If I had missed it [Coach Ryan] probably would have screamed, ‘You’re off balance. You’re not looking at the basket.’”

The win snapped a two-game losing streak, the program’s longest of the season.

“There was no way we were going to lose that game,” Littles said. “We needed it for our confidence and we needed it to put us on a little run before the last three games of the season.”

With only three regular-season games remaining and the program still jockeying for position for the ACC and NCAA tournaments, Littles has unfinished business to attend to.

“I don’t look at it as I am running out of time. I still have plenty of time,” she said. “This team still has plenty of time to do a lot of things.”

With her improved play and the added ability to connect on shots with a higher percentage from the perimeter, Littles is viewed as a potential first-round draft pick in the upcoming WNBA draft.

“If I run out of time,” Littles said, “I will just begin a new chapter in life.”