Win and move on, lose and go home-- that's the current mentality of the Virginia women's basketball team. Virginia beat St. Joseph's 48-42 Saturday night at U-Hall in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) and will move on to the second round. Junior center Siedah Williams led the Cavaliers with a double-double -- she scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Freshman forward Lyndra Littles also delivered a great performance with 12 points and 7 rebounds.
Both teams had a tough time getting on track offensively. Virginia shot 35 percent from the field, while St. Joseph's shot 28 percent. Both coaches attributed the poor offensive showing to the extended break between the WNIT and the end of the regular season. Virginia had a 16-day break between the end of the ACC tournament and the first round of the WNIT.
With the offense struggling, the Cavaliers relied on their suffocating defensive pressure and a powerful low-post presence to beat the Hawks.
"We rebounded well and played their tendencies extremely well," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "They really could not get shots off because when they tried to run their plays we knew what they were going to do. I think we did a good job of keeping them in check."
Virginia out-rebounded St. Joseph's 39-35 and outscored the Hawks 22-16 in the paint. Williams and Littles worked together to shut down the Hawks' vaunted inside game.
"We played defense and rebounded the ball very well," Ryan said. "There were stretches where we executed pretty well, offensively, but it was really the defense and rebounding that made the difference in the game."
Virginia's shooting woes extended to the foul line as well. The Cavaliers were abysmal at the free-throw line, where they shot 38.9 percent.
The Cavaliers poor free-throw shooting nearly cost them the game. After closing the first half with a seven-point lead, St. Joseph's battled back in the second half and outscored Virginia.
"We all thought it was going to be a tough game, and it was," Williams said. "Everyone was clawing their way through but we were ready for it."
With time running down, St. Joseph's began to foul Virginia in order to extend the game. Virginia missed free throw after free throw and gave St. Joseph's many opportunities to close the gap. Luckily for the Cavaliers, the Hawks were having a bad day on offense and were unable to capitalize on any opportunities. Predictably, Ryan was unhappy with Virginia's offensive problems.
"A 16-day break is extremely long and it clearly affected us in this game," Ryan said. "We missed a lot of easy shots and our free throw shooting was abominable."
St. Joseph's concentrated on shutting down sophomore guard Sharnée Zoll. The Hawks were able to confuse Zoll -- they limited her to nine points and 25-percent shooting from the field. Zoll's decreased production forced many traditional "role" players to step up and contribute.
"Lyndra Littles and [sophomore guard] Denisha Kenion came in early in the first half and brought a lot of energy," Ryan said. "They forced some turnovers and Denisha did a great job of running the offense because Sharnée was a little bit off. But [the Hawks] were keying on Sharnée and [senior forward] Tiffany [Sardin], which kept them from getting any rhythm going."
Virginia's aggressive defensive pressure forced 23 turnovers, and the Cavaliers were able to translate those turnovers into points. Virginia scored 24 points off turnovers, compared to only 10 for St. Joseph's.
"They were a little quicker than we were," St. Joseph's coach Cindy Griffin said. "They got to the ball a little bit faster than we did. We had 14 fewer opportunities to shoot the ball because their quickness forced many turnovers."
The Cavaliers said they are excited to be in the WNIT and are looking forward to the second round.
"The WNIT is a great learning experience for us, especially going into the summer workouts," Williams said. "It will help for next year to get us back on track and into the NCAA tournament."
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