Despite the excitement of a few extracurricular activities that honored both a great coach and a great player, the Virginia women's basketball team held off Clemson 83-71 at John Paul Jones Arena last night.
Virginia (20-7, 8-3 ACC) celebrated coach Debbie Ryan's June induction into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame with a video tribute at every media timeout while senior point guard Sharneé Zoll closed in on the ACC career assists record throughout the game. In the end, the Cavaliers kept Clemson (10-16, 3-8 ACC) at arm's length all night to pull out the conference victory.
"It was a really big night for a lot of people," Ryan said. "I think that we expended a little bit of emotional energy on Sharneé. I thought we looked like we played just a little bit tired. I thought Clemson did a good job of coming back in the second half and forcing our hand."
Zoll entered the game only six assists shy of breaking former Virginia great Dawn Staley's all-time ACC assist record. The crowd waited in anticipation until 18:01 remained in the second half when Zoll threw a lob to sophomore guard Monica Wright who easily converted for career assist number 730. With it came instant relief for the senior captain, who finished the game with 731 assists.
"Finally, it came," Zoll said. "I can't stop thinking about it. My teammates don't have to sit there and focus on it. We can just worry about playing, finally."
No one was more proud of Zoll than her coach of the past four years.
"For me, it was just really important," Ryan said. "Words can't describe. To have two of those players like Dawn Staley and Sharneé Zoll, obviously I've been blessed and honored to be able to be their coach and to have the kind of relationship I've had with them has just been a dream for me."
Junior center Aisha Mohammed was coming off a frustrating performance against Virginia Tech Sunday, a game in which she only managed five points on two of six shooting. Mohammed bounced back in dominating fashion with a career-high 26 points, 17 of which came in the first half.
"She didn't carry anything over [from Sunday]," Ryan said. "Obviously, she was so ready to play today. She was very, very focused today, and I thought her teammates did a very good job of looking for her."
Wright and junior forward Lyndra Littles chipped in 19 points a piece to help lead the Cavaliers.
Up next for Virginia is a trip to Durham Sunday afternoon to take on the No. 12-ranked Duke Blue Devils (19-7, 8-3 ACC). The Cavaliers have had a couple close calls with North Carolina and Maryland but are still in search of a signature win that could help their NCAA Tournament profile.
Still, Ryan will prepare her team just like it is any other game.
"It's no more important than the other 14 [conference] games I have on the schedule," Ryan said. "It can't be. You can't place more importance on one game than another. It doesn't matter whether it's Clemson or Virginia Tech or Duke. It's the same."
The Cavaliers have shown that they can compete with the best women's college basketball has to offer, even in hostile territory.
"I just think we need to go play," Ryan said. "I just don't want our team to let the name 'Duke' beat them. I want to be able to step on the court and know we are as good as Duke because we are. That's the main thing and I don't think there will be any question of that. We have already seen Maryland, Connecticut, and North Carolina. We should be well prepared to play this game, regardless of the fact that we're playing there."
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