Women's Basketball Hosts Duke

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Feb. 21, 1998

Feb. 22, 1998 – 2:00 p.m. – Senior Day
WINA Radio 1070 AM – No TV
University Hall (8,457) – Charlottesville, Va.

Quick Notes on Virginia
The Cavaliers snapped a two-game losing streak with a 60-51 winover Wake Forest on Feb. 18 in Winston-Salem, N.C. DeMya Walker scored ateam and game-high 23 points in the win. Virginia had previously lost toN.C. State and North Carolina. The Cavs are 4-2 in the month of February.

Head Coach Debbie Ryan recorded her 200th ACC win with thevictory over Wake Forest the other night. She becomes the first conferencecoach to reach that milestone.

With her 23-point performance vs. Wake Forest last week, DeMyaWalker overtook Mimi McKinney as the team’s leading scorer. Walker leadsthe team in scoring (15.6 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg). McKinney rankssecond on the team in scoring (15.2 ppg), but leads the team in assists(3.8 apg) and steals (2.2 spg). Erin Stovall ranks third on the team inscoring (9.3 ppg) and second in steals (2.0 spg).

In all games, the Cavaliers are 10-2 at home, 8-4 on the roadand 0-1 at a neutral site. In ACC games, Virginia is 5-2 at home, 4-4 onthe road.

Series With Duke
This is the 40th meeting between Duke and Virginia. The Cavaliershold a 31-8 record in the series that dates back to the 1977-78 season.The teams have split the last six games and Duke won an earlier contestthis season 93-66 in Durham, N.C. Last year, Virginia swept the series.

Duke is 1-16 at University Hall with the lone win coming on Feb.10, 1996 when the Blue Devils handed UVa a 72-69 loss.

Head Coach Debbie Ryan
Head Coach Debbie Ryan, in her 21st season, brings a career recordof 480-162 (.747) into tonight’s game. Ryan is the ACC leader in conferencewins (200) and winning percentage. She became the first ACC coach to win200 games in conference action.

Last Time With Duke (Jan. 23, 1998)
Hilary Howard scored 17 of her season-high 20 points in the firsthalf to lead No. 24 Duke to 93-66 victory over No. 11 Virginia on Jan. 23,1998.

Nicole Erickson added 18 points and Peppi Browne 12 to help sendthe Cavaliers to their worst loss since a 80-47 defeat to Tennessee in the1989 NCAA tournament. It was Virginia’s most lopsided loss to an AtlanticCoast Conference opponent since losing 96-68 to North Carolina in the 1984ACC tournament.

Duke (13-5, 6-2 ACC) led by as many as 29 points and coasted downthe stretch, hitting 23-of-27 free throws in the final 8:33. Virginia lostthree of its last six conference games.

Lesley Brown came off the bench to lead Virginia with 20 points, 16in the second half. Mimi McKinney added 10.

Howard hit six of her first eight shots, including 3-of-4 shootingfrom beyond the arc, as Duke built a 43-21 halftime lead.

Virginia coach Debbie Ryan benched all her starters except LisaHosac to begin the second half, but the Cavaliers got no closer than 46-25in the opening minute of the second stanza.

The Blue Devils made 30-of-58 attempts from the field, includingseven-of-20 from 3-point range. Duke outrebounded Virginia 43-29.

How the Teams Match Up Tonight             Virginia   DukePoints           69.9   75.3Points Allowed   64.4   63.8Rebounds         40.2   37.5Rebound Margin   -1.0   +3.8FG %            .40.9   .461FG% defense      .384   .4153-pt FG %        .293   .354FT %             .647   .687Assists          13.2   15.9Turnovers        20.3   17.9Blocks            5.9   2.2Steals           11.7   9.0

Guarded Condition
Head Coach Debbie Ryan is a strong candidate for ACC Coach of theYear after beginning the season with two starting guards falling toseason-ending injuries and all but two of the remaining guards sufferinginjuries that have kept them out of the line-up at one time or another thisseason.

Senior Monick Foote made the decision to redshirt this season dueto a chronic ankle problem (right) and a stress fracture in the same legthat developed during the summer. Foote wanted to take the time to properlyrehab the leg and comeback for a healthy senior year in 1998-99.

Junior Tiffany Bower suffered a torn left achilles tendon on the third dayof practice and will not play this season. Bower worked extremely hard overthe summer to come back from a torn right achilles tendon which shesuffered on the eve of the NCAA Tournament last March and was cleared toplay this season.

Sophomore Renee Robinson suffered a concussion in the Old Dominion(1-27-98) game that kept her sidelined for two games and junior Kate Mooneysuffered a one-inch gash on her head during the N.C. State (2-12-98) gamethat kept her out of most of the first half.

In addition, senior Mimi McKinney has played the entire season on avery sore left knee which was recently diagnosed as a tear in the ligament.She did not play in the Dec. 8 game vs. Mt. St. Mary’s because of a bonebruise on her left knee.

Freshman guards Erin Stovall and Katie Tracy have remained healthythis season.

Walker Becomes 15th Player To Reach 1000
DeMya Walker became the 15th player in school history to score 1000career points when she connected on a short jumper in the first half of theN.C. State game on Jan. 12. Walker’s short jumper in the lane at the12:51mark of the first half of the N.C. State game sent her over the 1000-pointmark. She had an opportunity to score her 1000th point on a free throwearlier in the game, but missed.

Right On the Money
Prior to the Jan. 30 game vs. Georgia Tech, Kate Mooney had onlyconnected on 18 three-pointers this season. She was 0-10 from the field inthe Duke game (Jan. 23) and then went 0-2 in the Old Dominion game (Jan.27). But in the next three games, Mooney shot .513 (20-39) from the fieldand led the team in scoring in each of those games. In addition, she was16-29 (.552) from beyond the arc during that stretch.

She recorded a career-high 20 points in the 93-57 win over GeorgiaTech (Jan. 30) and then hit a new career-high of 22 points in the 83-76overtime win at Florida State (Feb. 1). She continued the barrage with 21points in the 72-55 win over Clemson (Feb. 5). She is the only player onthe current roster to have scored 20 or more points in three consecutivegames.

She tied the school record for three-point field goals in a gamewith seven treys in the Florida State game and tied the school record forthree-point field goals in a half with five in the first half against theSeminoles.

Ready to Play
Point guard Renee Robinson, who missed two games due to aconcussion, was cleared to play in the Feb. 5 game with Clemson. Robinsonsuffered the injury in the Old Dominion game (Jan. 27) when she collidedwith Mery Andrade at midcourt. She was knocked unconscious, but returned toplay in that game. However, on the team’s return to Charlottesville,Robinson was diagnosed with a concussion and was sidelined for the GeorgiaTech game (Jan. 30) and the Florida State game (Feb.1).

Since her return in the Clemson game, Robinson has averaged 15.5minutes of action, but has not regained her starting role from freshmanErin Stovall.

Breaking Into The Top 10
DeMya Walker has 649 rebounds in her career and ranks ninth inschool history. She passed Val Ackerman who had 641 rebounds.

     Player           Years           G   Rebounds1.   Wendy Palmer     1993-96       126   12212.   Heather Burge    1989-93       135   9553.   Cathy Grimes     1982-85       114   9324.   Heidi Burge      1989-93       134   8535.   Dawn Bryant      1985-89       123   8276.   Dawn Staley      1988-92       131   7727.   Chrissy Reese    1980-83       105   7368.   Tonya Cardoza    1986-91       121   6679.   DeMya Walker     1996-present   89   64910.  Valerie Ackerman 1978-81       116   641

McKinney Named Player of the Week
For the first time this season, a Virginia player was touted as theACC Player of the Week. Mimi McKinney earned the honor for the week ofJan. 19 after leading Virginia to a 105-100 upset of seventh-ranked NorthCarolina.

McKinney Makes Mark
Mimi McKinney was scorching the nets on Jan. 15 in Chapel Hill,N.C. and she became the first woman in Virginia history to score over 40points in a game. She was 16-27 from the field, 7-12 from three-pointrange and 9-13 from the charity stripe in her 48-point performance againstfifth-ranked North Carolina in triple overtime (Jan. 15). She had 35points at the end of regulation. The 48 points is the most ever by a men’sor women’s Virginia player against a Division I opponent. McKinney’s 48points ranks second all-time in Virginia basketball history behind BarryParkhill’s 51 points vs. Baldwin-Wallace (Dec. 11, 1971) and ties BuzzyWilkerson’s 48-point game vs. Hampden-Sydney (Dec. 1, 1954).

She eclipsed the women’s single game scoring record of 39established by Wendy Palmer in the Maryland game on Jan. 25, 1995.

Climbing Up The Charts
Mimi McKinney and Kate Mooney are moving up the chart inthree-point shooting. McKinney’s seven treys against UNC moved her ahead ofMooney.

Tora Suber is Virginia’s all-time leader in three-point field goalsmade with 220.

      Player           G   Made   Att. 1.   Tora Suber     127   220   666 2.   Tammi Reiss    127   139   334 3.   Dena Evans     134   129   370 4.   Dawn Staley    131   124   371 5.   Monick Foote    84   121   326 6.   Mimi McKinney   99   87    270 7.   Kate Mooney     76   85    264 8.   Kathy McConnell 62   64    210 9.   Donna Holt      32   49    12810.   Wendy Palmer   126   31     96

Walker Is UVa’s All-Time Blocks Leader
DeMya Walker set a new UVa single game record for blocked shotswith eight blocks in the Florida State game on Jan. 2. She broke the oldrecord of seven which was held by Walker (twice), Heidi Burge and JackiLaBerge. she ranks fifth in ACC history in blocked shots.

Walker’s first block of the season, which came in the 13:06 markin the second half of the William & Mary game (Nov. 16), established her asthe Virginia’s all-time blocks leader, eclipsing the mark of 152 set byHeather Burge (1990-93). Walker ended the night with three blocks.

Walker Second in Nation in Blocks
DeMya Walker ranks second in the nation in blocked shots. SamanthaTomlinson of Troy State is top shot blocker in the country with 4.1 blocksper game. Here are the top five in that category:

     Player (school)                  G   B   Avg.1.   Samantha Tomlinson (Troy St.)   21   88   4.12.   DeMya Walker (Virginia)         24   82   3.3     Teresa Jenkins (Florida A & M)  21   68   3.24.   Myndee Larsen (Southern Utah)   21   64   3.05.   Brooke Wyckoff (Florida State)  23   69   3.0

Walker Fourth in ACC Blocks
Walker is closing in on the ACC numbers as well. Currently, sheranks fourth in the conference in blocked shots with 234 career blockedshots.

     player, school (years)             G   B    Avg.1.   Dawn Royster, UNC (1984-87)      110   329   3.02.   Peggy Caple, Clem (1982-1985)    119   298   2.53.   Dolores Bootz, GaT (1985-88)      91   245   2.74.   DeMya Walker, Va. (1996- present) 88   234   2.7

ACC Season-Highs
Mimi McKinney’s 48 points vs. North Carolina is the ACC’s seasonhigh in points. She also holds the season-high in field goals made (16) andthree-point field goals made (7). DeMya Walker’s eight blocks is aseason-high for the conference, tied with Florida State’s Brooke Wyckoff.

As a team, Virginia has achieved the league high in fourcategories: field goal percentage defense (.183 vs. Mt. St. Mary’s),steals (25 vs. California), blocks (14, vs. Mt. St. Mary’s).