Virginia Earns No. 9 Seed in NCAA West Regional

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March 7, 1999

1999 NCAA Tournament

March 12 & 14Ruston, LouisianaThomas Assembly Center

Mar. 12 NCAA First Round
#9 Virginia vs. #8 Penn State at 6:00 p.m.
#16 Central Florida vs. #1 Louisiana Tech to follow

Mar. 14 NCAA Second Round (ESPN2)
6:07 p.m.

Virginia In The NCAA Tournament
Virginia makes its 16th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Only Tennessee and Louisiana Tech have more consecutive appearances in the Big Dance-18 straight years. The Cavaliers have competed in the NCAA Tournament every year since 1984. Two other teams, Georgia and Old Dominion, have been to the NCAA Tournament 16 times, but not in consecutive years.

This is the third straight year that Virginia has been placed in the West Region and this years ninth seed is the lowest seed that the Cavaliers have received in its 16-year tournament history. Last year, Virginia was a #6 seed in the West and travelled to Tucson, Ariz. where it defeated Southern Methodist 77-68 in the first round and lost to Arizona 94-77 in the second round.

Match-up With Penn State

Virginia Penn State Points 76.2 78.1 Points Allowed 63.8 63.6 Rebounds 40.1 42.3 Rebound Margin +2.5 +6.5 FG % .441 .439 FG% defense .378 .411 3-pt FG % .280 .389 FT % .715 .668 Assists 14.3 17.7 Turnovers 18.0 17.8 Blocks 6.1 4.4 Steals 10.3 10.3

About the CavaliersThe Cavaliers have won five of its last seven games and since January, the Cavaliers are 13-5 (.722). All five losses were at the hands of two higher-ranked teams-Duke (twice) and North Carolina (three times). In that stretch, the Cavaliers upset higher-ranked Clemson, twice.The Cavaliers captured second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference by winning their last regular season game and had a little help from Duke who defeated North Carolina. Had the Tar Heels won, the Cavaliers would have been bumped down to the third seed.In the ACC Tournament, the Cavaliers defeated Wake Forest 71-67 in the quarterfinals and lost to North Carolina 83-70 in the semifinals. DeMya Walker was named to the All-Tournament team.All players are healthy for the start of the NCAA Tournament. Freshman point guard Telisha Quarles suffered a bout with the flu during the ACC Tournament and did not dress for the Wake Forest game and played only four minutes in the North Carolina game.

Ready To Rumble
Virginia enters the 1999 NCAA Tournament as the ninth seed in the West Region. Virginia is 27-15 in the NCAA Tournament (.571). Below is the breakdown of how the Cavaliers fared round-by-round:

first round: 5-3
second round: 11-1
regional semi’s 7-4
regional finals 3-4
semifinal game 1-2
championship game 0-1

Series With Teams In The Ruston Sub-regional
Penn State: The Cavaliers hold a 4-2 advantage in the series that dates back to the 1983-84 season. These two teams have never met on a neutral court.

Virginia vs. Penn State (4-2)

1983-84    88-69    W    H1987-88    59-54    W    A1988-89    85-76    W    H1989-90    77-90    L    A1989-90    85-64    W    H1990-91    71-73    L    HHome 3-1, Away 1-1, Neu. 0-0

Louisiana Tech: Virginia and the Lady Techsters have met three times with the Cavaliers holding a slim 2-1 advantage in the series. The last time these two teams met was in the semifinals of the East Regional in Storrs, Conn., on March 23, 1995 and the Cavaliers won on a last second shot 63-62.

Virginia vs. Louisiana Tech (2-1)

1986-87    77-66    W    H1988-89    66-88    L    A1994-95    63-62    W    NHome 1-0, Away 0-1, Neu. 1-0

Central Florida: Virginia and Central Florida have never met.

In the Polls
(polls for week of Mar. 8 not available at time of printing)
The Cavaliers have been ranked every week in either the AP or USA Today poll since Jan. 8, 1984. The Cavaliers have been ranked a total of 279 consecutive weeks in at least one of the polls. Virginia holds the longest active streak of any ACC team in the AP poll-181 weeks. The current streak in the AP poll started on Nov. 20, 1989. The Cavaliers have appeared in every USA Today poll for a total of 259 consecutive weeks.

Ryan Becomes Sixth Coach to Reach 500
With the win over Florida State on Feb. 21, Virginia Head Coach Debbie Ryan won her 500th game and became the sixth coach to rack up 500 wins at one school in Division I.

Only five other coaches in Division I have attained 500 wins at one school: Pat Summit (Tennessee), Jody Conradt (Texas), Kay Yow (N.C. State), Mike Granelli (St. Peter’s) and Marian Washington (Kansas). Ryan, in her 22nd season, has averaged 23 wins per season and holds a career and Virginia record of 501-173 (.743).

Virginia Is One of ACC’s Top Defensive Teams
The Cavaliers established themselves as one of the ACC’s top defensive teams. Virginia ranks second in the ACC in scoring defense (63.8) and second in field goal percentage defense (.378). The Cavaliers lead the conference in blocked shots (6.1), rank third in steals (10.3) and third in turnover margin (3.5).

Walker is Considered One of Nation’s Finest
DeMya Walker was named to the Women’s Basketball Journal Defensive All-America second team. The 6-3 power forward led Virginia in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocked shots. She tied the Atlantic Coast Conference career blocked shot record and needs just one block to become the conference’s all-time leader.

The Women’s Basketball Journal Defensive All-America first team includes Semeka Randall (Tennessee), Mery Andrade (Old Dominion), Latasha Dorsey (Louisiana State), Nicole Kubik (Nebraska) and Roxanne McCrory (Colorado State).

Joining Walker on the second team is Itoro Umoh (Clemson), Dominique Canty (Alabama), Chamique Holdsclaw (Tennessee) and Ruth Riley (Notre Dame).

Walker is also a finalist for the Naismith Award, given to the top women’s collegiate basketball player in the country. She is the only ACC player named as a finalist. In addition to Walker, the ten finalists of the Naismith Award are Svetlana Abrosimova (Connecticut), Canty, Tamika Catchings (Tennessee), Becky Hammon (Colorado State), Holdsclaw, Maylana Martin (UCLA), Randall, Stephanie White-McCarty (Purdue) and Tamika Whitmore (Memphis).

New and Improved Free Throw Shooting
Virginia is the ACC’s top free throw shooting team (71.5 percent) and it is the first time since the 1988-89 season that the Cavaliers have shot over 70 percent from the foul line as a team. Six UVa players are shooting above 70 percent from the line this season: Katie Tracy (91.2, 11-12), Lisa Hosac (88.0, 44-50), Erin Stovall (77.5, 79-102), Lesley Brown (75.0, 48-64), Monick Foote (73.8, 59-80) and Svetlana Volnaya (70.0, 35-50).

Hosac put together a string of 30 straight free throws this season which broke the school record. Stovall had a string of 13 straight free throws broken in the ACC Tournament.

Walker Is The Team’s “Do Everything Player”
DeMya Walker leads the team in scoring (15.1), rebounding (8.6), steals (1.9) and blocked shots (2.9) and ranks second on the team in assists (2.8).

In the ACC, she ranks first in blocks (2.9), third in rebounds (8.8), fourth in steals (1.9), fifth in field goal percentage (.556), and seventh in scoring (15.1).

Quick Notes

The starting centers of the ACC average only 7.6 points and 4.4 rebounds vs. the Cavaliers during the regular season.The Cavalier bench averages 26.9 points per game while the starters average 52.9 points. The bench outscored the starters 44-21 in the Virginia Tech game and 53-49 in the Towson game.Erin Stovall has the four highest scoring games on the Virginia squad this season. In addition to the 27 points at Georgia Tech on Feb. 18, Stovall scored 26 vs. Clemson (Jan. 2), 25 vs. Duke (Jan. 4) and 24 vs. North Carolina (Jan. 18).The Cavaliers are more successful in the last four days of the week than in the first three days. Virginia is 11-1 (.917) in games played on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, and are 9-7 (.563) in games played on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday.Erin Stovall broke the record for three-point field goals made by a sophomore. Stovall has 44 for the season to break the mark set by Tora Suber (43) in 1995.In the national stats, Virginia ranks 24th in field goal percentage defense (37.8). DeMya Walker ranks fifth in blocked shots (2.9).

Robinson Playing Better Since Injury
It might have taken an injury to improve Renee Robinson’s performance on the court. Her stats improved after playing a gutsy 24 minutes and dishing out six assists in the game following a sprained left ankle injury on Jan. 14 and has since been a better player for Coach Ryan. In the 11 games after the injury, Robinson improved to 3.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Below is the comparison of Robinson’s stats prior to the injury, after the injury and her cumulative stats:

                    G      FG     Pts.   Reb.   Ast.    St.    Min.Prior to injury    15    14-35    2.5    2.0    2.5    1.3    22.5Post injury        13    19-45    3.8    3.3    3.6    1.8    29.2Cumulative         28    33-80    3.1    2.6    3.0    1.5    25.6 

Walker Can Become UVa’s All-Time Leader in FG%
If DeMya can keep up her current shooting percentage of 55.6 percent this season, she will become Virginia’s all-time leader in career field goal percentage.

Walker holds onto a career field goal percentage of 55.9 which puts her ahead of Heather Burge who shot 54.6 percent for her career. Last season, Walker shot 59.8 percent from the field to record Virginia’s third highest season shooting percentage.

Ryan Holds Advantage vs. Current ACC Coaches
Debbie Ryan holds a 138-71 record against the current coaches in the ACC and holds a winning record versus every coach in the conference.

Ryan vs.

    Jim Davis, Clemson                    19-11    Gail Goestenkors, Duke                  9-6    Sue Semrau, Florida St.                 4-0    Agnus Berenato, Georgia Tech           23-3    Chris Weller, Maryland                31-20    Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina        22-9    Kay Yow, N.C. State                   25-22    Charlene Curtis, Wake Forest            5-0                                         138-71

Hosac Breaks 18-year old Free Throw Record
Lisa Hosac hit 30 consecutive free throws before missing in the Duke game on Feb. 4. Hosac’s streak began when she made her last three free throws in the VCU game on Nov. 24. She entered the Wake Forest game on Jan. 28 with a string of 26 straight made free throws which tied the 18-year old record held by Sandy Glasson. With her 4-4 performance from the line vs. the Demon Deacons, Hosac broke Glasson’s record and extended the streak to 30.

Walker Ties ACC Career Blocked Shot Record
With her one block in the North Carolina game (Feb. 28), DeMya Walker tied Dawn Royster as the ACC’s all-time career blocked shot leader.

   Player, team          Years       GP    Blk    Avg.1. Dawn Royster (UNC)    1984-87    110    329    3.0   DeMya Walker (UVa.)   1996-      121    329    2.7

Walker Moving Up in NCAA Block Party
With her 329 career blocked shots, DeMya Walker ranks 10th in NCAA history in blocked shots. The all-time NCAA record is 428 blocks by Genia Miller (Cal State Fullerton, 1988-91). Last Player, team Season GP Blk 1. Genia Miller (Cal State Fullerton) 1991 118 428 2. Heidi Gillingham (Vanderbilt) 1994 128 413 3. Rebecca Lobo (Connecticut) 1995 126 396 4. Chris Enger (San Diego) 1993 96 372 5. Kara Wolters (Connecticut) 1997 137 370 6. Angela Gorsica (Vanderbilt) 1997 127 368 7. Trish Andrew (Michigan) 1993 113 367 8. Denise Hogue (College of Charleston) 1993 106 359 9. Amy Lundquist (Loyola Marymount/DePaul) 1997 113 33610. Dawn Royster (North Carolina) 1987 110 329 DeMya Walker (Virginia) 1999 121 329

The Long Rangers
Monick Foote and Erin Stovall are becoming one of the most deadly three-point shooting combos in school history since Foote teamed with Tora Suber several years ago. The duo combined for 111 three-pointers in 1996 and 97 treys in 1997. Foote and Stovall have 71 between them this season. Stovall has connected on 44 bombs this season while Foote has connected on 27.

In the career standings, Foote moved into second place ahead of Tammi Reiss with the first three-pointer she hit in the Wake Forest game on Jan. 28. Stovall who connected on 32 trifectas last season, holds onto eighth place with 73 career three-pointers.

         3FGM    Player (years)                  Att.    1.    220    Tora Suber (1994-97)            666    2.    148    Monick Foote (1995-present)     421    3.    139    Tammi Reiss (1989-92)           334    4.    134    Dena Evans (1990-93)            370    5.    131    Dawn Staley (1989-92)           371    6.     91    Kate Mooney (1995-present**)    282           91    Mimi McKinney (1995-98 )        288    8.     76    Erin Stovall (1997-present)    2699

**redshirting the 1999 season

Walker Moves Into Fourth in Career Rebounds
DeMya Walker continues to climb up the chart in career rebounds. The 6-3 senior has a career average of 7.7 rebounds per game and 926 total for her career. She needs seven more to move ahead of Cathy Grimes in third place.

       Reb.   Player (years)                     G1.    1221    Wendy Palmer (1993-96)           1262.     955    Heather Burge (1990-93)          1353.     932    Cathy Grimes (1982-85            114 4.     926    DeMya Walker (1996-present )     121 

Stovall Blazes Through January
Erin Stovall opened the new year with a scoring blitz. The 5-9 sophomore scored a career-high 26 points in the win at Clemson (Jan. 2) and followed that with 25 points in the loss at Duke (Jan. 4). Stovall was named the ACC Player of the Week (Jan. 4) for her performance and she is the first player since the 1996-97 season to score 25 or more points in back-to-back games (DeMya Walker). Stovall scored 14 points in the win over Maryland (Jan. 8) and connected on a team-high 19 points in the win at N.C. State (Jan. 11). Stovall scored eight points in a 12-1 run in the second half that sealed the win against the Wolfpack. She followed that with 19 points vs. Georgia Tech (Jan. 14) and 24 points vs. North Carolina (Jan. 18).

Since gaining a regular starting role on Jan. 2 vs. Clemson, Erin Stovall is averaging 15.2 points per game compared with 12.9 as a reserve. When she is in the starting line-up, the Cavaliers are 10-4. Against ranked opponents, Stovall averages 16.8 ppg.

On the Boards
Crashing the boards or lack thereof has been Virginia’s achilles heel this year. For a team that prided itself on rebounding in recent years, this year’s team has had its ups and downs. The Cavaliers have been outrebounded in nine games this season and are 2-8 in those games. However, when the Cavaliers outrebound their opponent, they are 18-0. The win at Clemson was the first time this season the Cavaliers pulled out a win with fewer rebounds than the opponent (45-53). The Cavaliers squeezed out a win over Maryland on Jan. 8 despite being outrebounded 41-37.

The Cavaliers hold a +2.5 rebound margin over its opponents this season.

Duo Combines For Best Shooting Performance
DeMya Walker and Lesley Brown shot a combined 17-17 (1.000) in Virginia’s 102-44 win over Towson on Dec. 11 and recorded the top shooting performance in UVa history. Walker tied Wendy Palmer for the best individual shooting performance in school history with her 9-9 shooting from the field. Brown’s 8-8 performance from the field completed the best shooting performance by a duo in any single game in UVa history.In Palmer’s 9-9 effort vs. Cleveland State on Nov. 29, 1995, Monick Foote was 5-5 from the field.

In the Towson game, Virginia shot 61.5 percent (40-65) the highest field goal percentage since Jan. 25, 1994 when the team shot 65.5 percent vs. Duke (36-55).

NCAA 1999 Women’s Basketball Tournament

West Region

at RUSTON, La.
(16) Central Florida at (1) Louisiana Tech
(9) Virginia vs. (8) Penn State

at BATON ROUGE, La.
(12) St. Mary’s CA vs. (5) Notre Dame
(13) Evansville at (4) LSU

at LOS ANGELES
(11) Memphis vs. (6) Kentucky
(14) Wisconsin-Green Bay at (3) UCLA

at FORT COLLINS, Colo.
(10) Santa Barbara vs. (7) Southwest Missouri State
(15) Cal State Northridge at (2) Colorado State

Midwest Region

at WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.
(16) Oral Roberts at (1) Purdue
(9) Kansas vs. (8) Marquette

at CHAPEL HILL, N.C.
(12) Grambling vs. (5) Alabama
(13) Northeastern at (4) North Carolina

at PISCATAWAY, N.J.
(11) Florida vs. (6) Arizona
(14) Dartmouth at (3) Rutgers

at LUBBOCK, Texas
(10) North Carolina State vs. (7) Mississsippi State
(15) Stephen Austin at (2) Texas Tech

Mideast Region

at STORRS, Conn.
(16) St. Francis at (1) Connecticut
(9) Florida International vs. (8) Xavier

at AMES, Iowa
(12) Cincinnati vs. (5) Oregon
(13) Santa Clara at (4) Iowa State

at ATHENS, Ga.
(11) SMU vs. (6) Toledo
(14) Liberty at (3) Georgia

at CLEMSON, S.C.
(10) Louisville vs. (7) Illinois
(15) Florida A&M at (2) Clemson

East Region

at KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
(16) Appalachian State at (1) Tennessee
(9) Ohio State vs. (8) Boston College

at BLACKSBURG, Va.
(12) Texas vs. (5) Auburn
(13) St Peter’s at (4) Virginia Tech

at DURHAM, N.C.
(11) St. Joseph’s vs. (6) Tulane
(14) Holy Cross at (3) Duke

at RICHMOND, Va.
(10) Maine vs. (7) Stanford
(15) Tennessee Tech at (2) Old Dominion