Twenty-four hours after the Virginia men's team ended Old Dominion's season in dramatic fashion, the Lady Monarchs returned the favor Tuesday night in another instant classic, defeating Virginia 88-85 in overtime of the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
With the game tied at 85 and 31.3 seconds showing on the game clock, Old Dominion called a timeout to set up its final play. As the shot clock was winding down, junior point guard Jazzmin Walters found the ball in her hands and a seam on the right wing. The generously listed 5-foot-2 Walters let it fly from beyond the arc and delivered a dagger to the Cavaliers' hearts as the shot clock expired.
"When I first caught it, I wanted to really attack," Walters said. "The [defender] kind of backed off of me, and then once I let it go, I knew it was good after that. I just shot it with a lot of confidence."
Virginia (24-10) still had one last chance with 4.8 seconds remaining. Junior forward Lyndra Littles caught the inbounds pass at half court but had her first 3-point attempt blocked by Old Dominion junior forward Tiffany Green. As she did all night, Littles scrapped for the loose ball and got off a second attempt, but the shot was off to the left and Virginia's season was over.
"It was obviously a very disappointing loss for us," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "I felt like we were battling from behind from the start of the game."
Virginia led for only eight seconds during the entire second half of regulation but scrapped its way back within striking distance down the stretch. Two free throws by Walters gave the Lady Monarchs (31-4) a 78-75 lead with 24 seconds remaining, and the Cavaliers came down looking for a quick two as Littles drove to the basket with time winding down. Littles put up a shot with 13 seconds to go. The shot rimmed off, and no one could have expected the battle that ensued. During the next 11 seconds, Littles corralled two offensive rebounds but could not convert any of her four attempts in close, including off a third offensive rebound by senior guard Sharneé Zoll. Junior center Aisha Mohammed came down with the fourth offensive rebound, put back the Littles miss to bring Virginia within 1 and was fouled by Old Dominion senior forward Shahida Williams with 1.8 seconds remaining.
After a brief timeout taken because Williams fouled out, Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry used her final timeout to try to further ice Mohammed. The Nigeria native calmly stepped to the line and nailed her free throw to send the game into overtime.
It seemed as though Virginia would ride its momentum from regulation to an overtime victory as a Littles layup put the Cavaliers up 85-81 with 2:14 to play; however, those were the last points Virginia would score.
The Lady Monarchs closed the game on a 6-0 run that began with a 3-point play from Jessica Canady courtesy of a Britnee Millner blocking foul with 1:23 remaining.
"This type of game, you hate to have to see a winner and a loser because it was such a great battle," Larry said. "I really did feel like we were ready to play. We gave them a good punch, but Virginia is such a good basketball team. They are so physically gifted and athletic that they punched back."
Littles led the charge down the stretch, almost singlehandedly propelling Virginia into overtime. She registered 15 of her 29 points in the final 5:40 of regulation and the overtime period.
"I thought Littles really -- the last five minutes of regulation [and] into the overtime -- was just phenomenal," Larry said. "She played with a different passion and energy."
Still, despite Virginia's efforts, Old Dominion persevered and brought the Cavaliers' season to an abrupt end.
"As much as we felt like we had the possession of the win at the end of regulation," Larry said, "to have to win it again in overtime was just significant"
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