Shaking off an ankle injury late in the second half, senior forward Lyndra Littles sank four free throws in the final 30 seconds to lead the Virginia women’s basketball team to a 75-69 victory against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg last night.
The Cavaliers (15-3, 2-1) were down 69-67 with 2:47 remaining in the game when Littles and junior guard Monica Wright stepped up to score the game’s final 8 points and prevent an upset in Cassell Coliseum.
Littles gave the Cavaliers a scare when she fell to the ground with 8:23 left in the second half in the midst of grabbing a rebound. Immediately after, she was looked at by a trainer and helped off the court.
“I think I came down on somebody’s foot and just rolled or sprained it a little,” Littles said.
Littles refused to sit out of the rest of her last game as a Cavalier playing in Blacksburg, though. Within a few minutes, she limped back out onto the court and quickly reasserted her presence, sinking a 3-point shot with 6:14 left.
Littles’ toughness was the story of the game; her total of 28 points, including 8-8 from the free throw line, led the Cavaliers in the scoring column and kept their hopes alive down the stretch.
“Lyndra was just incredible tonight,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. “She really had some nice shots, just really getting up high to get over the defender. I was really pleased with her performance.”
Equally important for Virginia was Wright’s continued excellence despite being one of the focuses of Tech’s defensive schemes. Only in the second half, when the Hokies seemed to shift their pressure to senior center Aisha Mohammed, did Wright get some space to run the offense.
Wright, who leads the ACC in scoring, ended with another prolific day on offense, shooting 11 for 20 from the floor and totaling 23 points. Her ability to grab boards in the paint also continues to blossom. Wright’s seven rebounds led guards in the game and tied for second among all players.
The play of Wright and Littles down the stretch helped the Cavaliers overcome difficulties early in the second half.
After halftime, the Hokies quickly shook off a 9-point deficit to bring the game within 2 with 16:30 left to play.
Virginia, despite combating a high-energy Hokies squad, managed to hold on to the lead until freshman guard Shanel Harrison sank a jumper to put Virginia Tech up 56-54 and give the Hokies their first lead of the night with 9:03 left in the game. Tech held onto its edge until the waning minutes of the game.
Although Virginia ended the second half with great efficiency on defense, the end of the first half saw the Hokies begin to claw away at the Cavaliers’ lead.
After hopping out to a quick lead that they nursed throughout the first half, the Cavaliers led by as much as 12 before Tech clamped down on defense. The Hokies looked like they were about to end the half on a 6-0 run, but Littles managed to sink a 3-point shot in the final seconds before halftime.
One interesting moment in the game came with 6:40 left in the first half, when redshirt-sophomore forward Jayna Hartig earned an assist by passing the ball to her sister, sophomore forward Kelly Hartig, who layed the ball in the basket, marking her only points of the game and Jayna’s only assist.
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