After what could turn out to be the toughest road stint of the Virginia women’s basketball season, during which the Cavaliers faced then-No. 5 Tennessee and then-No. 24 Old Dominion, Virginia earned a respite in the form of a home game against a relatively softer opponent last night. In a matchup against Colorado, Virginia managed a 2-1 scoring advantage for most of the first half and continued its scoring dominance for the entirety of regulation to trounce the Buffaloes 77-43.
Freshman forward Chelsea Shine came off the bench to lead the Virginia scoring attack. In her first four games as a Cavalier, Shine averages 11.2 points and 6.2 rebounds a game.
“I thought she was a very good player in high school,” coach Debbie Ryan said. “I thought she would struggle a little bit on this level, but it has proven to be a very easy transition. She can score. She can flat-out score.”
At this point, Shine still comes off the bench, however, because Ryan expects improvement from the forward on both ends of the floor as the season progresses.
“She looks great to [fans] because she plays offense, but the bottom line is you have to be able to defend — and that’s where she has the longest way to go right now,” Ryan said. “She just has to learn the nuances of the defensive end of the court and put some more rebounds on the board, and I think she is in good shape.”
Shine earned 23 minutes of playing time in last night’s game, where time for starters was already truncated because of Virginia’s massive lead, but she seems aware of the weaknesses that require attention on her part to become a more complete collegiate player.
“I need to get better when [teams] screen, whether we are trapping or hedging ... I need to get better doing that,” Shine said. “I have a hard time when I close out. Defenders will go take that quick dribble and go right by me ... Defense is definitely the main focus, because defense fuels offense.”
Offensively, four players scored in double digits to bring the Cavaliers to at least the 70-point mark for the fourth time in their first four games.
“I think what really makes me feel good is that I didn’t have to rely on [junior guard Monica Wright] for an ungodly [amount] of scoring,” Ryan said. “To me that’s the best thing that I see here. Other players are stepping up and scoring and putting the ball in the basket for us.”
More impressive than Virginia’s offensive performance was the Cavaliers’ play on the other end of the court. A stalwart Cavalier defense held the Buffaloes to just 20 points in the first half and 25 percent shooting from the floor. While senior center Aisha Mohammed contributed 10 points to Virginia’s offensive effort, she made her presence felt defensively tallying two blocks and snatching seven of her 14 rebounds off the opponents’ glass.
“Coach [Ryan] was saying that we all have to go out for the game and get more rebounds,” Mohammed said. “We have to play good defense. We should not and can not focus on the offense alone.”
The Virginia players answered Ryan’s ambition resoundingly with three double-doubles in the scoring and rebounding departments.
As the Cavaliers head into what Ryan called a “really tough road trip,” Virginia hopes to shore up a backcourt that was decimated during the offseason. In 2008, point guard Sharnee Zoll, the ACC’s all-time assist leader, graduated. Junior point guard Paulisha Kellum then took up Zoll’s mantle, but her season ended before it even began when Kellum tore her ACL prior to the first game. Ball distribution responsibility fell squarely on the shoulders of freshman Ariana Moorer, who has thus far assumed the role with a Zoll-esque 4.7 assists per game.
“I’m definitely trying to use some of [Zoll’s] stuff,” said Moorer. “I’m definitely trying to do a little bit of her and me too at the same time. We’re just pushing the ball up the court and looking for open people.”
Going into the season Virginia was No. 15 in the country. After four games, two of which were on the road against ranked opponents, the Cavaliers have performed up to preseason expectations — only slipping one spot in the polls after the first three games. With a three-day Thanksgiving throwdown in Milwaukee, Wisc. against solid opposition in the upcoming WBCA Classic, however, the team in orange and blue will once again face a test of its resilience.
“That’s definitely something we are going to have to be ready for this upcoming week,” Shine said. “It was nice to come home. It was nice to bounce back from [Old Dominion], which was a huge learning experience for everyone. I think we can go in a lot more confident now this week.”
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