The Virginia women's basketball team has been a staple in the NCAA tournament throughout the past two decades. For the Cavaliers to increase their string of consecutive appearances to 21 this year, the team will have to rely on its second-half magic.
Despite a 12-10 overall record heading into their last six regular season matches, head coach Debbie Ryan said she sees no need to panic just yet.
"There's a ton of season left," Ryan said. "We're not the kind of team that counts ourselves out early, that's pretty obvious. We're fighters in the end and I think that we've got ourselves playing at least well enough right now to win in the ACC."
Looking back to last year, Virginia was in jeopardy of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in 19 years. Despite starting their season 5-9, a 10-3 closing stretch quickly put those doubts to rest.
This second-half wizardry has even begun to extend to the Cavalier's most recent individual games. In their last three games -- all victories -- Virginia has trailed at halftime.
A perfect example of Virginia's second-half successes came last Thursday night against Maryland. After trailing 19-24 at halftime, the Cavaliers outscored the Terrapins 45-27 in the second half on their way to a 64-51 victory.
Despite these second-half triumphs, Ryan said she would still like to see her team come out with a little effort in the first half.
"I think that we have got to go back to the drawing board and do a little better job in the first half [of the game] though," Ryan said. "There's no question about that. We can't just keep saying we're a second half team, because teams can close the door on you very quickly, especially at this time of the year."
Regardless, Virginia is beginning to get back to their winning ways, a habit that Cavalier fans have grown accustomed to over the past 20 years.
After starting 5-6 through the first 11 games of the season, Virginia has begun to turn the corner for the better, compiling a 7-4 record since the early slump. If anyone knows how to defeat the odds when their backs are against the wall, it's Ryan and her Virginia squad, who have a history of overcoming challenges.
For Ryan's returning players, they not only can relate this year's early slump to last year's, but they also know what it takes to turn that slump into a season of success.
"The way we've been playing in the second half of the season feels the same as last year," junior LaTonya Blue said. "I think [this year] is going to be the same, or even better. We have a lot of confidence this year and right now, so I think we'll be fine."
And if previous player experience isn't enough for the Cavaliers to finish the season out strong, Ryan's own second-half success story should be sufficient.
In 2000, Ryan battled and defeated pancreatic cancer while never giving up the reigns of her program. The combination of her strong survival skills and her knowledge of basketball will hopefully allow Ryan to carry the Cavaliers into the Big Dance come March.
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