I n her team's victory over N.C. State yesterday, Virginia freshman Brandi Teamer contained Kaayla Chones in a matchup of two of the most dominant centers in the ACC. Teamer's teammates followed her example in holding the Wolfpack to 38 percent shooting from the field and simply outpacing their opponents.
Teamer took advantage of her one-on-one matchup with Chones, who had a mediocre game and certainly made Teamer look like an ACC Player of the Year candidate. Other Wolfpack players had trouble getting into the flow of the offense, with the exception of guard Nanna Rivers and forward Talisha Scates, who scored a career-high 17 points.
"We were unable to finish some shots that made a difference in the game for us down the stretch," N.C. State coach Kay Yow said.
Teamer's determination to win the defensive battle against Chones directly influenced the way in which her team played hard-nosed defense throughout the game. The Cavaliers adjusted to the Wolfpack's changing strategies on offense like an improvisational jazz band.
"The idea was to take [Chones] out of her game and make her a passer rather than a scorer," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "We just doubled on her at certain times, depending on how the configuration of the defense was."
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N.C. State took a hit when Chones crashed into the scorer's table toward the end of the first half. Although she was not able to get into a rhythm, Chones' inside presence was going to be missed, but thankfully the accident was not enough to cause her a serious injury.
When Chones did come back in the second half, she was more effective, scoring six of her seven points, but her teammates did not come through offensively when she was double-teamed.
The only area in which N.C. State outplayed the Cavaliers was from the free-throw line, and that's not saying much considering the Cavs' 8-of-15 performance.
Although both teams were equally poor in three-point shooting, it hurt N.C. State twice as much because of their inability to get Chones and other low-post scorers on track offensively.
"Coach has been doing a great job to get us prepared to play better interior defense," Teamer said. "We know how Chones is usually the one who kills the other teams, so we planned to take her out of the game and make somebody else hurt us from outside. Everybody did a great job today."
Aside from the dismal three-point shooting, the story was completely different on the offensive end for Virginia. The Cavs continuously pounded the ball to Teamer during the second half, and senior guard Telisha Quarles was able to read the Wolfpack defense to get her team on the scoreboard.
Generally, Virginia would consider itself very lucky to win a conference game with its cold shooting performance from three-point territory and the free-throw line. Its defensive effort from all around, however, got them through this one. If they learn to solve those shooting woes, then watch out ladies and gentlemen, because the Cavaliers will start to take over in such games as yesterday's.
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