The story of Virginia's game against Clemson truly was a tale of two halves. Virginia scored 23 points in the first half, then managed to put up 46 in the next 20 minutes. The first half, the Cavaliers played like they have been playing recently: unorganized, undisciplined and throwing the ball away at an astounding rate.
The second half, however, was a completely different story. The Cavaliers came out strong, focused and determined, and they imposed their will on the Tigers, dominating the second half.
One would need to look no further than the play of junior forward Anna Crosswhite in search of an explanation for the team's second half. From the minute she entered the game, Crosswhite brought a wealth of experience, hard work and hustle, which translated into great defense, only one turnover and 13 points in just 16 minutes.
She set two great screens to help open up teammate Cherrise Graham for a jump shot in her first play of the game. It was Crosswhite's two three's with four and a half minutes to play that turned a two-point game into an eight-point game, and secured the victory for the Cavaliers.
Crosswhite, who played 16 minutes in the second half after sitting out the entire first half serving a suspension for violating a team rule, elevated and embodied Virginia's second-half play. She slowed the ball down when she needed to and pushed it ahead when she saw an advantage. The Cavaliers were able to execute a half-court offense well for the first time in over two weeks of conference play because of the slow, calm and disciplined way in which they dealt with Clemson's defenses.
Virginia overcame a trapping 1-3-1 zone, which would have forced an obscene amount of turnovers had the Cavaliers faced it in the first half.
In fact, the Cavaliers did turn the ball over at an alarming rate in the first half. Six of the team's 13 first-half turnovers came in the first six minutes of the game. In contrast, the Cavaliers only had three second-half turnovers.
LaTonya Blue, who had seven turnovers in Virginia's loss to North Carolina last Thursday, started last night's game by getting two assists and three turnovers in the first half. Blue, like the rest of the Cavaliers, came out of the half valuing each possession. She racked up seven more assists in the second half while not turning the ball over once.
It is worthy to note that coach Debbie Ryan had strong faith in both Blue and Crosswhite. Blue played 38 of a possible 40 minutes, while Crosswhite was never taken out of the game once she was put in. Ryan should also be given a good amount of the credit for being able to turn her team around at halftime, as well as being applauded for urging her team to "take care of the ball" rather than to "stop turning the ball over." The difference between positive and negative reinforcement can be the difference between winning and losing the team for the season. While coach Ryan certainly doesn't need the applause of a Cavalier Daily column after successfully coaching for 26 years at such a high level, I still recognize that Virginia is lucky to have her. And fans must have faith that coach Ryan can get her team to take this type of play into the rest of the conference season.
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