No. 11 Old Dominion 88, No. 24 Virginia 85

3/25/2008 9:51 PM

By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - The littlest player made the biggest shot for Old Dominion. Then one of the tallest made sure it would be enough to win a thrilling game.

Jazzmin Walters made a 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left in overtime Tuesday night, and Tiffany Green blocked a tying 3-point attempt just before the buzzer, giving the Lady Monarchs an 88-85 victory over Virginia and a trip to the Greensboro Regional.

Fifth-seeded Old Dominion (31-4) fell behind 85-81 in overtime, but closed the game on a 7-0 run. Walters started it with a free throw, Jessica Canady added a three-point play with 1:25 to go, and the 5-foot-2 Walters made a shot from her hip just before the shot-clock buzzer to send the Lady Monarchs' crowd into a frenzy.

``Once I got the ball, I just let it fly,'' Walters said of her third 3-pointer of the game. ``That play wasn't set up for me to score, but it ended up that way.''

It got even louder when the 6-2 Green met Lyndra Littles at the top of the key and blocked her shot. Littles, who scored 29 points, collected the rejection and tried again, but her second effort came up well short and the wild contest was finished.

``I thought Littles during the last five minutes of the game was phenomenal,'' Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry said. ``She played with a different passion and energy. But this little engine that could was relentless, too,'' she added, meaning Walters.

Littles is not the Cavaliers' best 3-point shooter, having made just 17 this season in 44 tries, but she knew what she had to do on that final possession.

``I tried to get into good range and she (Green) was right there,'' she said.

The Lady Monarchs, who snapped a six-game losing streak in the tournament in the first round, will face top-ranked Connecticut on Sunday in Greensboro, N.C.

The victory was especially meaningful for senior T.J. Jordan, who had never beaten the Cavaliers and didn't want her career to end against Virginia.

``We lost to them my freshman year, my sophomore year,'' said Jordan, who scored 14 points and had five assists. ``It was significant to win here on our court under these circumstances. This was a classic game. We can't ask to go out any better than this.''

Fourth-seeded Virginia (24-10), which trailed almost all night, forced overtime when Aisha Mohammed was fouled with 1.8 seconds to go - on the Cavaliers' sixth shot from in close on the possession - and she swished the free throw to extend the game.

``It felt like we were battling from behind from the very start,'' Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. ``We were getting to the rim, but we weren't able to finish. ... When the game got into overtime and we were up by four, I felt like we were on our way.''

Then Walters had the ball, the clock running down, and ended Ryan's season.

``She must have had ice water in her veins, because she just threw it in,'' Ryan said.

Walters led Old Dominion with 17 points and 10 assists and committed just one turnover. Shahida Williams and Green scored 13 each, and Green also had 12 rebounds and six blocks. Canady added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Littles grabbed 14 rebounds, and Mohammed had 17 points and 15 rebounds. Sharnee Zoll scored 13 with nine assists in her final college game, and Virginia's best scorer, Monica Wright, had 11 on 5-for-17 shooting before she fouled out with 5:23 left.

Littles shot 10-for-29 for Virginia and scored five points in overtime, but Virginia didn't score after her layup put them ahead by four with 2:14 to play.

The Cavaliers trailed by 11 in the second half before going on a 14-2 run. Littles had six points in the run, including the basket that gave the Cavaliers their first lead since the opening minutes at 69-68 with 4:11 remaining. It last just 9 seconds.

Jasmine Parker's 3-pointer put Old Dominion ahead, and Mohammed's layup off an inbounds play tied it with 3:44 left before Walters tried to win it in regulation.

Her 3-pointer gave the Lady Monarchs a lead they held until the final sequence, when Virginia missed five consecutive shots in close before Mohammed finally converted.

Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry called a timeout trying to freeze Mohammed, who was just 2-for-5 from the line to that point, but she made the tying attempt.

The first half was rugged, with 17 fouls called and at least twice that many committed. Virginia started 3-for-4, then went stone cold, missing 18 of 20 as the Lady Monarchs put together an 18-4 run and took a lead that grew to as much as 13 points.

But Virginia regrouped during the last media timeout, started making shots and outscored Old Dominion 13-4 over the last 3:20 to close to 39-36 at the break.