Littles's Changes Are A Positive Development

When Lyndra Littles starts listing all the ways she has changed since arriving at Virginia, it's clear she has undergone quite a transformation these past few years.

"I used to be late a lot," the junior forward said. "I've gotten that together. I make sure I have my priorities together. I'm a better listener. I'm a better leader. I know when to be focused. I know when it's time to joke. I know when it's time to get serious."

Littles's metamorphosis seems to coincide with the Cavaliers' resurgence. Virginia, which had missed three of the last four NCAA tournaments, returns for the first time since 2005. The fourth-seeded Cavaliers (23-9) play No. 13 seed UC Santa Barbara (23-7) tonight at Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk.

Littles, a third-team all-ACC selection, has developed into one of Virginia's top scoring threats and better rebounders. She ranks second on the team and third in the conference in scoring (16.3 points per game) and is the Cavaliers' second-best rebounder (6.9 rebounds per game). She has scored 20 or more points in a game five times this season, including a career-high 31 points against Georgia Tech earlier this month. On Nov. 30 against Wisconsin, she scored her 1,000th point.

More important than her scoring and rebounding, however, Littles has become a much more consistent performer. Too often in the past, when she started a game poorly, Littles went into a funk and made few contributions. Now she's learning to fight through sluggish starts and be a more assertive competitor.

"Lyndra's always had this sort of laid-back approach to things," Virginia Coach Debbie Ryan said. "But she now knows sometimes she has to pull herself out of that and get a little more aggressive with things."

Take the Cavaliers' quarterfinal game against Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament: Littles missed seven of her first eight shots but then scored eight points during a decisive second-half run.

"She had a terrible start, and I was able to go down to her and talk to her about it and say, 'Listen, I need you to change this,' " Ryan said. "She turned around and understood what that meant and didn't take it personally and understood that I was just trying to help her."

In the past, "she might have come back at me a little bit or she might have thought what do you know or whatever. I've learned a little bit more about Lyndra in terms of what works and what doesn't."

After leaving Southeast Washington and Archbishop Carroll three years ago, Littles landed in Charlottesville with a few rough edges that needed smoothing out. Part of the baggage she carried was a me-against-the world attitude that led to more than a few battles with Ryan.

She and Ryan "bumped heads plenty of times," Littles said. "I think that's probably what makes our relationship great is because we have bumped heads many times and we have disagreed. . . . "When you keep bumping your head enough, sooner or later you're going to get it. I think I bumped my head way too many times. I finally took a Tylenol and got it right.

"I don't let people in. I don't like letting people in. I don't trust a lot of people. I like being by myself. I don't like a lot of people around me. I just like me. So it's hard when you come into an atmosphere where it's not just you, and you have to be open and you have to trust people and you have to let people in."

Littles's stubborn defiance has given way to a more gracious spirit, and Ryan couldn't be more pleased with the growth and maturity she has witnessed in Littles.

"Night and day in terms of where she started and where she's come to," Ryan said. "It's not [Littles] against the world anymore. It's more [Littles] with the world. She's learned that there's a lot of people that are there in her corner."