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Virginia Hosts Wake Forest
Story Links
December 3, 1998
Wake Forest (3-3)
at #15 Virginia (3-2)
Charlottesville, Va. – University Hall (8,457)
Dec. 4, 1998 – 7:30 p.m.
The Cavaliers kick-off the 1998-99 Atlantic Coast Conference season tonight when Wake Forest visits University Hall. Demon Deacon Head Coach Charlene Curtis was a former assistant coach under Debbie Ryan from 1981-83.
Wake Forest and Virginia have had two common opponents this season: VCU and West Virginia. Wake defeated VCU 81-71 in their season opener on Nov. 14. Virginia defeated VCU 99-57 on Nov. 24. The Demon Deacons lost to the Mountaineers 67-57 on Nov. 30 while Virginia defeated WVa. in the season opener 85-72 on Nov. 15.
Walker leads the team in scoring (15.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.8 rpg) and Monick Foote is the team’s second leading scorer ( 13.2 ppg) and rebounder (5.8 rpg).
Sophomore forward Olivia Dardy leads Wake Forest in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg). Senior forward Emon McMillian ranks second on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg).
The Cavaliers hold a record of 126-27 in the month of December for a winning percentage of 82.4 percent.
Virginia is 2-0 at home and 1-2 on the road.
Series with Wake Forest: Tonight’s game marks the 43rd meeting between the two teams. Virginia holds a 41-1 record in the series and has won 39 straight against the Demon Deacons. The only loss in the series happened on Jan. 13, 1978 when Wake Forest posted a 60-59 win over the Cavaliers in University Hall.
The last time the Cavaliers and Wake Forest played in University Hall was on Jan. 18, 1998 and DeMya Walker scored 23 points to lead Virginia to a 65-55 win.
Ryan Nears 500: Head Coach Debbie Ryan needs only 16 wins to reach the 500-win mark for her career. Ryan has averaged 23 wins per season and enters her 22nd season with a career and Virginia record of 484-166.
Cavaliers Successful in Month of November: Virginia holds a 59-8 all-time record in the month of November for a winning percentage of 89.4 percent. The second most prosperous month for Virginia is December, ( 126-27, 82.4 percent) followed by February (140-60, 70.0 percent), January (153-66, 69.7 percent) and March (53-38, 58.2 percent).
Tracy Joins Team: Second-year guard Katie Tracy joined the basketball team on Nov. 23 following a successful soccer season. Tracy started all 22 games for the nationally-ranked Cavalier soccer team and she ranked fourth on the team in scoring with 14 points (7 goals, 0 assists). Last year, Tracy played in 18 basketball games and averaged 1.5 points and 9.6 minutes per game.
After one day of practice, Tracy played five minutes in the VCU game on Nov. 24 and had a perfect shooting night. She was 1-1 from the field and 2-2 from the foul line. She also recorded one rebound and one steal.
In The Polls: Virginia moved up to 15th in the AP poll and 18th in the USA Today poll for the week of Nov. 30. The team’s number eight ranking in the first two weeks of the season was the highest rank since Jan. 20, 1997 when Virginia reached number seven in the AP poll.
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 264 consecutive weeks in one or both of the polls.
Virginia holds the longest active streak of any ACC team in the AP poll – 167 weeks. The Cavaliers have been ranked 241 consecutive weeks in the USA Today poll.
Brown Off to Fast Start: Fourth-year forward Lesley Brown has surprised everyone this season with a 11.8 ppg scoring average. Brown, who has a career scoring average 3.8 ppg, led the team in scoring in rebounding for the first two weeks of the season. Although she did not lead the team in scoring in any of the four games this season, she has been the most consistent with point totals of 16 vs. West Virginia, 18 vs. Arkansas State and 17 vs. VCU. She only tallied six points in the win over California. She currently ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring. She started two of the five games this year and is averaging 16.5 points off the bench.
Cavs Have A Week Off Before Facing Towson: After tonight’s game the Cavaliers will not play again until Dec. 11 when they host Towson. This will be the first ever meeting between Towson of the America East Conference and Virginia.
The Tigers are 4-1 for the season and play Hofstra and Loyola before travelling to Charlottesville to face the Cavaliers.
Stovall Records Career-High in Arkansas State game: The loss at Arkansas State had a positive note; second-year guard Erin Stovall scored a career-high 22 points in the game. She hit a three-pointer at the final buzzer to push her offensive total to 22 points. Stovall’s previous career-high was 19 vs. Southern Methodist in the NCAA Tournament last March.
Foote Reaches 1000-point milestone: Monick Foote scored the 1000th point of her career with a 17-foot jump shot at the 10:03 mark of the first half vs. West Virginia on Nov. 15. She became the 17th player in Virginia history to reach the 1000-point plateau. For her career, Foote has averaged 11.8 points per game.
Cavaliers Host Nationwide Cavalier Classic: For the first time in five years, Virginia will host a regular season holiday tournament. The Nationwide Cavalier Classic, presented by the Double Tree Hotel, will feature Marist, Brown, Auburn and Virginia.
The format is pre-set with Auburn and Marist pairing up in the first game on Dec. 28 at 5:00 p.m. followed by Virginia and Brown. On Dec. 29, Brown squares off with Marist at 5:00 p.m. followed by the Auburn-Virginia match-up.
The Cavaliers haven’t played in a regular season tournament since their appearance in the Florida International Holiday Classic in Miami, Fla. in 1996. The Cavaliers came home with the trophy after defeating Alabama State 106-21 and Florida International 85-64. Monick Foote was named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.
The last time the Cavaliers hosted a tournament was on Dec. 3-4, 1993.