Trailing by six points at halftime, Virginia coach Debbie Ryan knew that the Cavaliers needed to change their defensive game plan. Temple senior forward Kamesha Hairston had scored 20 first-half points on 10 of 11 shooting against Virginia's man-to-man and 2-3 defenses. Ryan decided to pull an old trick out of her toolbox, and the Cavaliers went to a box-and-one defense in the second half.
That adjustment worked brilliantly as Virginia limited Temple to 28.6 percent shooting in the second half and Hairston to ten points, enabling the Cavaliers to comeback and beat the Owls 75-61 at JPJ last night.
"We haven't used it in probably 20 years, and this team has probably never ever even spoken about it until we got in the locker room tonight," Ryan said. "I really didn't think that we'd keep it on that long, but it was working."
What was even more notable was who was given the task of containing Hairston one-on-one. At halftime, senior guard Brenna McGuire, who is not known for her defense, volunteered for the hazardous duty and put forth a stifling defensive effort in the second half.
"We just had to change it up," McGuire said. "I wanted a challenge, and I told [Ryan] that. I went out and executed. We needed to do something to stop [Hairston]."
McGuire's coach and teammates were extremely impressed with her shutdown defensive effort on Hairston.
McGuire "did a tremendous job," junior point guard Sharnee Zoll said. "When you say Brenna McGuire, the first thing you think is great three-point shooter. Nobody gives her enough credit for her defense. Obviously tonight, she just stepped up."
Freshman guard Monica Wright led Virginia's offensive effort with 26 points on 10 of 21 shooting. With just over three minutes remaining in a contest that featured 15 lead changes, a Wright three-pointer from the left corner gave the Cavaliers a 64-62 advantage. Virginia would not trail again as it went on an 8-0 run, sealing the deal on the Cavaliers (5-2) second-straight victory.
The 26 points were a career-high for Wright.
"She's fearless," Temple coach Dawn Staley said of Wright. "She's got it. She has the skills, and she has the relentlessness."
Sophomore forward Lyndra Littles was Virginia's second leading scorer with 18 points. She also pulled down 13 rebounds, five of which were offensive.
Zoll accumulated 12 points and a team-high eight assists.
Virginia continues to adapt to having less depth on the bench, due to absence of Takisha Granberry and Denesha Kenion, each of whom withdrew from the University less than two weeks ago for unspecified reasons.
"This team continues to come together in very difficult situations," Ryan said. "This was a really good character-building game."
This was Staley's second time back at Virginia as a coach. In 2003, Virginia defeated Temple 72-71 at University Hall. Staley starred as a player at Virginia between 1989 and 1992, a four-year span in which the Cavaliers went thee Final Fours and won three ACC Tournaments.
Staley was honored before last night's game with a video tribute and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
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