CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- With the clock running down in Sunday's women's basketball game against Virginia, the ball stayed in the hands of guards Dawn Staley and Tammi Reiss. Continually they passed the ball between themselves, keeping the reaching Lady Lions away from it.

It was only fitting that's how the game ended. For Staley and Reiss were the catalysts for the 12th-ranked Lady Cavaliers' 85-64 squashing of Penn State. The two combined for 57 points and each collected four steals. It was indeed quite a show.

"The players have adjusted extremely well to their roles," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "We always like to run plays for Dawn and Tammi.

"We set it up for them to set it up."

Ryan added it was the two guards' penetration that spurred her team. At the beginning of the second half, with the Virginia holding a slender 52-48 lead, Staley and Reiss decided it was time to take control.

Staley, from Philadelphia, drove along the baseline for two points and then hit a shot in the lane.

Reiss, from Eldred, N.Y., took her cue and hit a layup, a jumper and ended the flurry with a steal and field goal. On that play she was fouled. The three-point play capped an 11-0 run by the sophomore tandem.

After she was fouled, Reiss ran to the crowd and flashed a No. 1 signal. All game long, she pumped her fists with energy.

"Sometimes in the game, I totally lose control," Reiss said. "I get too excited. I think it intimidates other teams because they start to walk in the other direction.

"For me, good things happen when I feel that excitement; that's the type of player I am."

Reiss finished with a career-high 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting. She continued her solid play that helped Virginia win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

In just the opposite manner, Staley was a picture of concentration. Whether it was a 22-foot jump shot or a drive and consequent layup, she kept her game face throughout.

Staley, hounded for most of the season by injuries, came up with a season-high 32 points Sunday. It seemed as if whatever defense Penn State threw at her, she would find a way.

"I just wanted to win the basketball game more than they did," Staley said. "I played my part."

"If there was one single person, (then) she was the key," Coach Rene Portland said. "At full speed she is the difference. When she put up a 3-pointer in the first half I said 'Oh crap,' because she hadn't been shooting that well coming in."

From the beginning, the two came out firing away. With Virginia down 15-7, Staley converted two key baskets while Reiss' 3-pointer gave the Lady Cavaliers a 21-19 lead they would never relinquish.

"(In the beginning) I didn't think I'd be flowing, but I was," Reiss said. "Every time I took a shot I was confident. I love to push the ball up the floor and everything was clicking today."

"Tammi and Dawn are an excellent backcourt," Portland said. "They play very, very well together. (When the time came) the two of them took control."

The guards' defensive intensity also played a decisive role. All game long, Staley pressured Lady Lion guards Dana Eikenberg and Jenny Kretchmar. Apart from the steals, Staley disrupted several Penn State possessions. Eikenberg finished with only six points and Kretchmar had four.

Along with Reiss on Tanya Garner, the Lady Lions' backcourt totaled 12 turnovers.