It appeared to be déjà vu all over again for the Virginia women's basketball team yesterday afternoon.
Just like in their previous meeting, the Cavaliers led at the half only to be subject to a big Florida State run to open up the second half.
Unlike their 16-point loss in Tallahassee, Virginia fought back but ultimately fell to the Seminoles 79-77.
The game resembled a boxing match -- each time Virginia would hit a shot to take the lead, the Seminoles would respond with one of their own. The crushing body blow, however, came with 35 seconds to play and Virginia down 74-72.
After the timeout, the Cavaliers ran a familiar play. Sophomore forward Lyndra Littles received the ball on the baseline and powered to the rack. She collided, however, with Seminole guard Alicia Gladden and fell to the ground, prompting a travel call from the referee.
"It was the same play we had run [before], and she had scored four or five times out of it," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "She might have scored again if she hadn't gotten called for the walk."
Gladden, after causing Littles to travel, then went to the free throw line and calmly knocked down two shots to extend the lead to four with only 23 seconds to go.
yet. After shooting just two for 10 from the floor, junior guard Sharneé Zoll was not ready to quit. She charged down the court on two consecutive possessions. She made a lay-up after her first possession and after a Seminole lay-up on the other end, knocked down a critical three-pointer and cut the deficit to only one.
"Sharneé has heart, I wouldn't want anyone else taking that shot," Littles said. "She just has a will to win."
Virginia lucked out when the Seminoles had trouble on the inbounds play and forced center Britany Milner to catch the ball. Milner was then fouled going to the line for a decisive one-and-one opportunity. Milner, however, was clutch, making her first shot and missing the second, forcing Virginia to bring the ball up the court with only 2.9 seconds left, as the Cavaliers had no remaining timeouts.
Freshman guard Paulisha Kellum could only shoot an off-balance desperation shot that did not draw iron and sank the hearts of the 4,662 in attendance.
"I guess it was just that first four minutes of the second half," senior forward Siedah Williams said. "They came out with a bit more energy and that hurt us but we fought back. They just made their last shot."
On Senior Day, Williams showed she will be missed. In her last regular season game at John Paul Jones Arena, she played probably the best she had since they opened the arena against Old Dominion. Just like then, Williams scored the first basket of the game on her way to 17 points and eight rebounds. Littles continued her spectacular play, posting 22 points and 14 rebounds -- both team highs.
The freshmen, however, may have stolen the show. Freshman guard Monica Wright had her third career double-double and Kellum sank 10 points. Both Wright and Kellum made critical free throws in the final three minutes to keep Virginia deadlocked with the Seminoles. As a team, Virginia was 17-18 from the line.
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