Women's Basketball Takes on Baylor Sunday

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January 23, 1999

Baylor Bears (10-7)
vs.
# 19 Virginia (12-5)

Jan. 24, 19992:00 p.m.Charlottesville, Va.University Hall (8.457)TV: ESPN2Radio: WINA 1070 AM

Today’s game is the second game of a nationally televised double-header between the ACC and the Big 12 Conference on ESPN2. The first game features Iowa State at Clemson (noon) followed by the Baylor-Virginia game.

This game marks the first-ever meeting between the Bears and the Cavaliers. Against Big 12 Conference opponents, Virginia is 5-1 (1-0 vs. Colorado, 1-1 vs. Kansas, 1-0 vs. Oklahoma State, 2-0 vs. Texas, 0-0 vs. Iowa State, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas A & M, Texas Tech).

The last time Virginia faced a Big 12 opponent was Kansas in the Wahine Classic in Honolulu on Nov. 25, 1994. The Jayhawks defeated the Cavaliers 86-84 in that game. The last time a Big 12 team played in University Hall was on Dec. 7, 1991 when the Cavaliers defeated Texas 77-47.

Baylor Head Coach Sonja Hogg and Virginia Head Coach Debbie Ryan have nine Final Four appearances between them. Hogg led Louisiana Tech to six straight Final Four appearances (1979 through 1984) and won one national championship with the Techsters (1982). Ryan has been to the Final Four three times (1990-91-92).

The Cavaliers are 8-2 in University Hall and 4-3 on the road.

DeMya Walker continues to lead the team in scoring (15.7 ppg), rebounding (8.4 rpg), assists (2.8 apg) and blocked shots (3.1 bpg). Erin Stovall has moved into second place in scoring (15.3 ppg) while Monick Foote ranks third (13.0 ppg).

In the Polls
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 273 consecutive weeks in at least one of the polls. Virginia holds the longest active streak of any ACC team in the AP poll175 weeks. The current streak in the AP poll started on 11-20-89. The Cavaliers have appeared in every USA Today poll for a total of 253 consecutive weeks.

How the Teams Match Up

              Virginia    BaylorPoints            77.9    75.2Points Allowed    64.4    65.7Rebounds          39.9    36.9Rebound Margin    +1.6    +0.8FG %              .446    .458FG% defense       .381    .4203-pt FG %         .286    .313FT %              .702    .708Assists           14.5    17.4Turnovers         17.7    18.5Blocks             6.4    3.9Steals            10.6    11.6

Ryan Nears 500
Head Coach Debbie Ryan needs only seven 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 493-170.

Stovall Scorching the Nets
Erin Stovall has 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 Dec. 29 vs. Auburn, Erin Stovall is averaging 18.9 points per game. When she is in the starting line-up, the Cavaliers are 7-2. Against ranked opponents, Stovall averages 25.0 ppg.

On the Boards
Crashing the boards or lack therof 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. When the Cavaliers outrebound their opponent, they are 10-0. When the Cavaliers are outrebounded, they are 2-5. 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 slim +1.3 rebound margin over its opponents this season. Last season was the first time since 1988-89 that Virginia did not have a positive rebound margin by the season’s end (-1.4).

Robinson Bounces Back From Injury
Junior guard Renee Robinson was listed as very questionable for last Monday’s showdown with North Carolina, but she managed to play 24 minutes. Robinson suffered a moderate sprain of her left ankle at the 19:35 mark of the second half of Virginia’s game against Georgia Tech on Jan. 14. She was helped off the floor and left after the game on crutches. The Cavaliers defeated the Yellow Jackets 82-62. Robinson started the following game at Florida State on Jan. 22.

Robinson’s injury was the latest in the point guard saga for head coach Debbie Ryan who had to deal with the departure of fifth-year point guard Tiffany Bower after the first game of the season. Sophomore Katie Tracy and freshman Telisha Quarles are the back-up point guards. Quarles earned the nod to start against North Carolina on Jan. 18 but played only four minutes. She hit two free throws for her only two points and had one rebound.

Cavs Start Off the New Year vs. Ranked Opponents
The 22nd-ranked Cavaliers opened the new year with a win at #10 Clemson, 67-66 in overtime and a loss at #13 Duke 84-68. These were the first ranked teams the Cavaliers faced this season.

The last time Virginia faced back-to-back ranked opponents on the road was in February, 1997 when the Cavaliers defeated #22 Duke 86-56 (Feb. 19, 1997) in Durham and lost to #4 North Carolina 70-65 in Chapel Hill. The Cavaliers were ranked 11th at the time.

Last season, Virginia played #24 Duke on the road and #3 Old Dominion at a neutral site and lost both games.

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).

Walker Ranks Fifth In Career Rebounds
DeMya Walker continues to climb up the chart in career rebounds. The 6-3 senior has a career average of 7.5 rebounds per game and 829 total for her career. She needs 25 more to move ahead of Heidi Burge in fourth place.

            Reb. Player              (years)     G1. 1221  Wendy Palmer      (1993-96)   1262.  955  Heather Burge     (1990-93)   1353.  932  Cathy Grimes      (1982-85)   1144.  853  Heidi Burge       (1990-93)   1345.  829  DeMya Walker (1996-present)   1106.  827  Dawn Bryant       (1986-89)   1237.  772  Dawn Staley       (1990-92)   131

Foote and Stovall Moving Up Charts in 3-Point Shooting
Monick Foote and Erin Stovall are becoming one of the most deadly three-point shooting combos in UVa history since Foote teamed with Tora Suber several years ago. Foote needs only two more treys to move into second place all-time in the three-point field goals made, ahead of Tammi Reiss. Stovall who connected on 32 trifectas last season, holds onto ninth place with 62 career three-pointers.

   3FGM  Player               (years)    Att. 1. 220  Tora Suber         (1994-97)    666 2. 139  Tammi Reiss        (1989-92)    334 3. 138  Monick Foote  (1995-present)    386 4. 134  Dena Evans         (1990-93)    370 5. 131  Dawn Staley        (1989-92)    371 6.  91  Kate Mooney (1995-present**)    282 6.  91  Mimi McKinney     (1995-98 )    288 8.  64  Kathy McConnell    (1987-89)    210 9.  62  Erin Stovall  (1997-present)    21710.  49  Donna Holt         (1987-88)    128

**redshirting the 1999 season

Walker Ranks Third in ACC in Career Blocked Shots
DeMya Walker is approaching another milestone in her UVa career. She currently ranks second in the ACC with 299 career blocked shots. With her block in the Florida State game on Jan. 22, she moved into sole possesion of second place in the ACC standings. The all-time leader in the ACC is Dawn Royster of North Carolina (1984-87) who tallied 329 blocked shots in her career.

   Player, team                Years   GP  Blk  Avg.1. Dawn Royster (UNC)        1984-87  110  329  3.02. DeMya Walker (UVa.)       1996-    110  299  2.73. Peggy Caple (Clemson)     1982-85  119  298  2.5

Foote Returns From Injury with Top Performance
Monick Foote returned to the starting line-up on Dec. 21 after sitting out two games with a pulled right hamstring. She responded with her season-high 22 points in only 22 minutes of action. She shot 8-11 from the field and hit three of five from beyond the arc. She played relatively pain-free and had her best performance from three-point range this season.

The performance was reminiscent of the 1995-96 season opener at Pittsburgh when Foote scored 18 points. She had reconstructive surgery on her right ankle that summer and had not participated in any of the exhibition games in the preseason. She was listed as questionable for the game against Pitt and she entered five minutes into the contest and reeled off 18 points in the win.

Foote Scores 1000th Career Point
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.

Cavaliers On Radio
All of the Cavaliers games, both home and away, will be broadcast on WINA 1070 AM or its sister station WKAV 1400 AM. Robby Robinson will call the play-by-play and former Cavalier stand-out Jenny Boucek will add the color commentary.