The Virginia women's basketball team held an eight-point lead over an instate rival, but I wasn't ready to give the Cavaliers the advantage. Despite the fact that Virginia had pulled away to close the first half, I still couldn't get rid of a bad feeling I had about the game.
Why was I worried at halftime of last night's game against Liberty? Because I had seen this movie before. The Cavaliers had done the same thing Saturday night against the visiting Richmond Spiders, but left that game with a nine-point loss. So I was less than optimistic as the teams cleared the court at halftime.
Why should I expect anything different? The Cavaliers had shot well in first half last night, much like they had done on Saturday. Like on Saturday, Virginia was again playing solid defense against the opponent's leading scorer, who was another dominating post player. Yet on Saturday, the Cavaliers turned around and shot poorly in the second half and let Richmond forward Kate Flavin score 18 points in the second half, so I wasn't ready to write off the Flames and their 6'8" center, Katie Feenstra, just yet.
So what was different last night? In a word, everything.
"We were real aggressive in every aspect of the game, that's sort of been the emphasis all week long," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said after last night. "We started out against Richmond very aggressive, but we didn't finish aggressive."
The Cavaliers looked like a team possessed at the start of the second half. Virginia quickly pulled ahead by 10 points and would hold that double-digit lead until the game's closing seconds.
Part of the reason the Cavaliers were able to build such an impressive lead was that they came out of the break shooting better. Virginia shot 44.0 percent from the field in second half, almost a seven-point improvement over the team's field goal percentage in the first half. Forward Brandi Teamer led the improved shooting in the second half as she registered all 12 of her points after halftime.
Also, the Cavaliers played amazing defense in the second half. Virginia came out playing the press on defense and forced several Liberty turnovers early in the half. The Cavaliers also continued to keep Feenstra in check offensively. The monster-sized senior didn't score her seventh, and final, point until the game's closing minutes. She was constantly double teamed, and as a result, picked up her fourth foul early in the second period.
In fact, Virginia's tenacity had the entire Liberty team playing in foul trouble. The Cavaliers were in the bonus for nearly 15 minutes in the second half. That's three-fourths of the half! Virginia took advantage of that fact and made 22 trips to the free throw line in the second half, converting on 13 of those trips. Compare that stat to the Flames going 1-4 from the free throw line in the second half and you've got the ball game right there. By simply going to the line, the Cavaliers were able to nullify Liberty's four second half three pointers and maintain their lead.
I don't know what Ryan said to her team that rallied them to play inspired in the second half. But whatever it was, it worked because the Cavaliers never looked back after the break. I guess that will teach me not to doubt this Virginia team in the future.
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