Coach Debbie Ryan's 34-year career came to a close Saturday evening as the Virginia women's basketball team fell 79-74 against Charlotte in the quarterfinals of the WNIT.
The Cavaliers (19-16) nearly pulled off an improbable victory, however, trimming the 49ers' 16-point second-half lead to a single basket with less than four minutes remaining.
Freshman guard Ataira Franklin sparked a late 10-0 Virginia spurt by drilling two consecutive three-pointers to make the score 62-60. Unfortunately for Franklin and the rest of the Cavaliers, however, Charlotte (27-9) continued to respond with scores of their own on the opposite end of the court to put the game out of reach.
"We didn't have an answer for a couple of their players," Ryan said. "I felt like my players gave everything they had from start to finish, and we just never really got into any sort of rhythm until late until the second half. By then, we were just fighting and clawing."
During the first half, Virginia appeared poised to extend its three-game winning streak as the squad jumped out to a 17-12 lead during the first eight minutes of the game. Sophomore guard China Crosby led the Cavaliers' early charge by tallying eight points during that span.
Redshirt senior guard Paulisha Kellum, who finished the night with 12 points, also provided an early spark for Virginia during her 133rd career game.
The 49ers called a timeout following Crosby's third bucket of the game in an attempt to stop the surging Cavaliers. After the stoppage, Charlotte strung together a 20-6 run en route to a 44-32 halftime lead.
"I just told them at halftime, 'Forget that. It's over, [and] we can't go back and get it. Let's just start over again and see if we can't just start anew and come out and be ourselves,'" Ryan said.
Virginia continued to struggle offensively following the intermission, allowing Charlotte to take a game-high 16-point lead by the 16:27 mark. But the Cavaliers remained resilient and continued to chip away at the deficit before ultimately coming up short against the hot-shooting 49ers.
Senior guard Shannon McCallum paced Charlotte with 24 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including a 2-for-2 performance from three-point range.
Crosby, meanwhile, notched 15 points in the second half to propel the Cavaliers' desperation push. Crosby finished the game with a career-high 25 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 shooting from behind the arc. Crosby also registered four assists, one block and three rebounds.
"We just tried to make the best of it for [Coach Ryan] because it was her last game here at JPJ," Crosby said. "We just tried to play our butts off for her. It was in the back of our heads, thinking that we [had] to play hard because of what she gave to this program and her legacy ... We tried."
Following the game, Ryan addressed the crowd of 1,940 fans in attendance to thank them for their continued support of both herself and the program.
"I will always be proud to be from the University of Virginia," she said to the Virginia faithful.
Shortly after the postgame speech, the longtime coach walked off the court with assistant coach and former Cavalier Wendy Palmer to a rousing response from the crowd.
"I can't tell you how incredibly humbled I am by the way my former players and my present players have embraced me," Ryan said. "[Now] it's going to be really different. It's going to be really hard."
The 2008 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee finishes her career at Virginia boasting a 739-324 all-time record, three Final Four appearances, 11 ACC regular season crowns and three conference titles.
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