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Virginia Travels to West Virginia
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November 13, 1998
#8 Virginia at West Virginia
Morgantown, W.Va. — WVU Coliseum
Nov. 15, 1998 — 4:00 p.m.
Season Opener
The Cavaliers open the 1998-99 season on the road at West Virginia on Sunday, Nov. 15. It is the fourth time in the last five years that the Cavaliers have opened the season on the road. This is Virginia’s first trip to Morgantown, W. Va.
The Cavaliers are 23-2 all-time in their season opener (14-0 at home, 8-1 away, 1-1 neutral). The two losses in the season opener have been in this decade, losing to Kansas 86-84 in the Wahine Classic on Nov. 25, 1995 and to Tennessee 78-51 in the Hall of Fame Classic on Nov. 19, 1996.
Virginia begins the season ranked eighth in the AP poll and 14th in the USA Today poll. The number eight ranking is the highest rank since Jan. 20, 1997 when Virginia reached number seven in the AP poll. This is the highest preseason ranking since 1995-96 when the AP poll ranked the Cavaliers third.
Series with West Virginia
Virginia holds a 4-0 advantage in the series that dates back to the 1988-89 season. This will be Virginia’s first game on the Mountaineers’ home court.
Last season, the Cavaliers squeaked out a 59-58 win over West Virginia in University Hall (Nov. 23, 1997).
Foote Needs Six Points to Reach 1000
Monick Foote is just six points away from recording the 1000th-point of her career. She will become the 16th player in Virginia history to reach the 1000-point plateau. For her career, Foote has averaged 11.8 points per game.
Foote ranks fifth in Virginia history in three-point field goals made and needs only 11 more three-pointers to move into fourth place ahead of Dawn Staley.
Cavaliers Go 1-1 in Exhibition Games
Tapiolan Honka 75, Virginia 69
Four Cavaliers scored in double figures in the first exhibition game of the 1999 season, but Virginia came up short on the scoreboard as it dropped its first contest 75-69 to Tapiolan Honka of Finland on Nov. 5. Monick Foote posted a team-high 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists. The trio of Lisa Hosac (12 points, 7 rebounds), Lesley Brown (10 points, 8 rebounds) and Erin Stovall (11 points, 4 rebounds) each recorded solid numbers for UVa. Deanna Mitchelson added seven points and and four rebounds, while Svetlana Volnaya and Renee Robinson added four points each in the loss.
With the game knotted at 26-26 with 6:15 to go in the first half, Tapiolan Honka went on a 12-2 run to pull ahead 38-28 with 3:15 to play in the half. Erin Stovall hit back-to-back three point shots to spark Virginia to an 8-4 run, helping the Cavaliers pull within six points. The Topcats took a 42-36 lead into the locker room.
Virginia cut away at Tapiolan Honka’s lead to begin the second half and eventually took the lead 46-44 on a Robinson layup with 13:32 to play in the game. However, the Topcats pulled ahead for good when Anja Hellman, who scored a game-high 27 points, knocked down a three-point shot to give Tapiolan Honka a 51-48 lead. The Topcats extended their lead to seven points several times in game before holding on for the six-point victory.
Virginia 84, Russia Select 55
The Cavaliers coasted to an 84-55 win over the Russia Select team at University Hall in front of 1,206 spectators on Nov. 9.
Virginia had four players score in double figures and was paced by DeMya Walker, who recorded a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds, both game-highs. Walker also collected a game-high five steals to go along with three assists. The Cavaliers received solid efforts from Monick Foote (16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals), Lisa Hosac (11 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds) and Svetlana Volnaya (12 points). Kravchenko chipped in nine points (4-5 fg) and Tiffany Bower added eight points, four assists and three rebounds in the win.
Virginia Superlatives:
led at half-time 16-3
trailed at half-time 3-7
were tied at half-time 0-0
went into overtime 2-2
led by 10 or more points 16-0
shot 60% or better 0-0
shot 50% or better 2-0
shot less than 50% 17-10
shot less than 45% 12-9
shot less than 40% 5-6
opponent shot 50% or better 0-3
opponent shot less than 50% 19-7
opponent shot less than 45% 18-4
opponent shot less than 40% 15-3
had higher FG% than opponent 16-2
had lower FG% than opponent 3-8
out-rebounded opponent 12-2
were out-rebounded by opponent 6-8
had same rebounds as opponent 1-0
had more offensive rebounds 10-4
had fewer offensive rebounds 9-5
had same offensive rebounds 0-1
had fewer turnovers than opponent 12-5
had more turnovers than opponent 6-4
had same amount of turnovers 1-1
shot more FTs than opponent 13-1
shot fewer FTs than opponent 6-9
shot same number of FTs 0-0
scored 100+ points 1-0
scored 90-99 points 1-0
scored 80-89 points 3-1
scored 70-79 points 5-2
scored 60-69 points 7-4
scored 59 or less points 2-3
Ryan Nears 500
Head Coach Debbie Ryan needs only 19 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 481-165.
She will become the third coach in the ACC to reach the 500-win plateau joining Kay Yow of N.C. State and Sylvia Hatchell of North Carolina at that milestone.
Injury report
Freshman guard Telisha Quarles sprained her left ankle in the first half of the first exhibition game on Nov. 5. She was unable to practice until Thursday, Nov. 12 and her status for Sunday’s game with West Virginia is probable.
The Old Switcheroo
Three players will wear different numbers this season: Monick Foote, formerly number 13, will wear number 35; Tiffany Bower, who wore number 33, will wear number 32, and Chalois Lias, who wore number 30 last year, will wear number 33.
Walker Gains ACC Preseason Honors
Senior forward DeMya Walker was selected as the Preseason ACC Player of the Year in a vote of the ACC Basketball Writers. A two-time All-ACC selection, Walker was the top vote-getter, receiving 12 of the possible 24 votes. She led the Cavaliers in scoring (16.3 ppg) and rebounding (8.4 rpg) last season and is the ACC’s top returning rebounder and shot blocker.
In addition, Walker was named to the Preseason ACC All-Conference First Team. Joining her on the first team was Nikki Teasly (North Carolina), Hilary Howard (Duke), Chanel Wright (North Carolina) and Tynesha Lewis (N.C. State).
Virginia’s fifth-year senior guard Monick Foote was named to the Preseason ACC All-Conference Second Team along with Itoro Umoh (Clemson), Amy Geren (Clemson), Nicole Erickson (Duke), and Latavia Coleman (Florida State).
Cavaliers Picked Second in Preseason Voting
The Cavaliers were picked to finish second in the Atlantic Coast Conference in a vote by the ACC Basketball Writers on Oct. 25. Duke was picked as the preseason favorite with 207 points. Following is the predicted order of finish by the writers:
Team Pts1. Duke(17) 207 2. Virginia (4) 1823. North Carolina (1) 1754. N.C. State (1) 1405. Clemson (1) 1366. Florida State 797. Maryland 768. Georgia Tech 539. Wake Forest 32
( ) denotes first place votes
In the Polls
The basketball pundits didn’t know what to make of the Cavaliers’ situation during the preseason and, when the publications came out, Virginia was ranked anywhere from number five to number 18. Following is a list of the publications and how they ranked the Cavaliers.
Preview Sports (5th), Athlon (9th), Street & Smith’s (10th), Basketball News (13th), Women’s Basketball Journal (13th), Sporting News (16th), Dick Vitale’s College Basketball (18th), Lindy’s (18th).