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Women's Basketball Travels to Arkansas State
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November 20, 1998
#8 Virginia at Arkansas State
Jonesboro, Ark.Convocation Center (10,563)Nov. 22, 19981:00 p.m. (central)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Cavaliers continue the 1998-99 season with their second road trip of the season, this time to Jonesboro, Ark. to face Arkansas State. Virginia opened the season with an 85-72 win at West Virginia on Sunday, Nov. 15 and have had the week to prepare for the game. The season opener at West Virginia was the fourth time in the last five years that the Cavaliers have opened the season on the road.
This is Virginia’s second-ever trip to the state of Arkansas and the Cavaliers are looking for their first win in the home state of President Clinton. Virginia played in the NCAA Mideast Regional at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 1995 and lost to Southern California 85-66.
Series with Arkansas State
This is the first meeting with Arkansas State. The trip to the state of Arkansas marks the first time that senior forward Lesley Brown will play collegiate basketball in her home state. Brown lists Little Rock, Ark. as her hometown and played high school basketball and competed in track at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock.
In The Polls
Virginia is ranked eighth in the AP poll and 14th in the USA Today poll this week. The number eight ranking is 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–166 weeks. The Cavaliers have been ranked 240 consecutive weeks in the USA Today poll.
Cavs Get Ready For Home Opener
After the Arkansas State game, the Cavaliers return to Charlottesville for their first home contest of the 1998-99 season. Virginia hosts Virginia Commonwealth on Nov. 24. The Cavaliers play seven of its next eight games at home, with the only road trip on Nov. 30 at state rival Virginia Tech.
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.
Foote ranks fifth in Virginia history in three-point field goals made and needs only eight more three-pointers to move into fourth place, ahead of Dawn Staley.
Ryan Nears 500
Head Coach Debbie Ryan needs only 18 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 482-165.
Welcome Back
The Cavaliers welcome the return of fifth-year guard/forward Monick Foote to the line-up after sitting out last season to rehab a stress fracture in her right tibia. Foote, a team captain in 1997, was a Naismith Award candidate and a preseason Honorable Mention All-America pick by Street & Smith’s prior to the 1997-98 season. She averaged 14.0 ppg and 5.4 rebounds for the Cavaliers in 1997. Foote is working on her graduate degree in English.
Fifth-year guard Tiffany Bower also returns to the Cavalier line-up after a ruptured achilles tendon side-lined her for the entire 1998 season. Bower wins the award for guts and determination after enduring torn achilles tendon injuries in both her left and right legs within a seven-month span in 1997. In addition, she sat out her first year (1995) due to a torn ACL in her right knee. She will have another year of eligibility remaining after this season. She is competing this year as a graduate student and is working on her master’s degree in Counseling.
Bower had her best season in 1997 with 7.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game as the team’s sixth player and could earn a starting role this season.
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 Points1. 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
Preseason Publications Unsure of Cavaliers’ Rankings
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)
Sports Illustrated (8th)
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)
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.
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.
Probable Virginia Starters
Pos. Player Year* Cl. Ht. Hometown / High School StatsF 15 Svetlana Volnaya 2nd Jr. 6-2 Minsk, Belarus / Independence CC 16.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg F 04 Lesley Brown 4th Sr. 6-0 Little Rock, Ark. / Pulaski Academy 16.0 ppg, 4.0 rpgC 22 DeMya Walker 4th Sr. 6-3 Mt. Holly, N.J. / Rancocas Valley Regional 12.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg G 05 Renee Robinson 3rd Jr. 5-6 E. Palo Alto, Calif. / Sacred Heart 6.0 ppg, 2.0 rpgG 35 Monick Foote 4th Grad. 6-0 Wilmington, Del. / Sanford School 20.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg size="1">
Off the Bench
Pos. Player Year* Cl. Ht. Hometown / High School StatsG 03 Erin Stovall 2nd So. 5-9 Irvine, Calif. / Iolani (Honolulu) 0.0 ppg, 1.0 rpgG 32 Tiffany Bower 3rd Grad. 5-9 Richmond, Va. / Monacan 6.0 ppg, 1.0 rpgC 14 Elena Kravchenko 2nd So. 6-10 Minsk, Belarus / Plymouth (Pa.) Whitemarsh 2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpgF 20 Lisa Hosac 3rd Jr. 6-2 Littleton, Colo. / Heritage 4.0 ppg, 4.0 rpgsize="1">
Virginia in the 1998-99 Polls
Week of AP USA Today Nov. 9 8th 14thNov. 16 8th 14th
The Cavalier’s record when they:
Led at half-time: 1-0
Trailed at half-time: 0-0
Were tied at half-time: 0-0
Went into overtime: 0-0
Led by 10 or more points: 1-0
Shot 60% or better: 0-0
Shot 50% or better: 1-0
Shot less than 50%: 0-0
Shot less than 40%: 0-0
Opponent shot 50% or better: 0-0
Opponent shot less than 50%: 0-0
Opponent shot less than 40%: 1-0
Had higher FG% than opponent: 1-0
Had lower FG% than opponent: 0-0
Out-rebounded opponent: 1-0
Were out-rebounded by opponent: 0-0
Had same rebounds as opponent: 0-0
Had more offensive rebounds: 0-0
Had fewer offensive rebounds: 1-0
Had same offensive rebounds: 0-0
Had fewer turnovers than opponent: 0-0
Had more turnovers than opponent: 1-0
Had same amount of turnovers: 0-0
Shot more FTs than opponent: 0-0
Shot fewer FTs than opponent: 1-0
Shot same number of FTs as opponent: 0-0
Had game decided by 10 points or less: 0-0
Had game decided by 5 points or less: 0-0
Scored 100+ points: 0-0
Scored 90-99 points 0-0:
Scored 80-89 points: 1-0
Scored 70-79 points: 0-0
Scored 60-69 points: 0-0
Scored 59 or less points: 0-0
Leading scorer is Foote: 1-0
Starting Line-up:
Volnaya, Hosac, Walker, Robinson, Foote 1-0
Virginia’s record on:
Sunday: 1-0
Monday: 0-0
Tuesday: 0-0
Wednesday: 0-0
Thursday: 0-0
Friday: 0-0
Saturday: 0-0
Working Overtime
The Cavaliers logged almost an entire game in overtime minutes last season. Virginia played 35 minutes of overtime in four overtime games in the 1997-98 season, including the triple overtime win over North Carolina on Jan. 15, 1998.
The Cavaliers were 2-2 in overtime games last year, 1-1 on the road and 1-1 at home. In their history, the Cavaliers are 16-10 in all overtime games (3-5 at home, 8-1 on the road, 5-4 at neutral sites). In post-season play, Virginia is 5-4 in overtime games including 4-2 in the ACC Tournament.
The four overtime games in 1998 were the most overtime games Virginia ever recorded in a season.
The Cavaliers are 12-9 in games that go only one overtime period, 1-1 in double overtime and 3-0 in triple overtime games.
All-time overtime games
date opponent W/L score2-22-98 DUKE L 78-85 2-15-98 NORTH CAROLINA L 84-85 2ot2-1-98 at Florida State W 83-761-15-98 at North Carolina W 105-100 3ot3-1-97 Clemson** L 75-773-4-95 Duke** L 82-832-23-94 at Maryland W 86-83 2ot3-8-93 Maryland*** W 106-103 3ot3-7-93 Clemson** W 79-713-31-91 Tennessee L 67-701-12-91 at N.C. State W 123-120 3ot3-24-90 Tennessee W 79-753-5-90 N.C. State*** W 67-6412-29-89 at Rutgers W 72-713-4-89 Wake Forest* W 68-672-15-89 MARYLAND L 99-104 1-11-86 at Clemson W 96-89 1-13-85 North Carolina W 64-6212-19-83 at East Tennessee St. W 71-682-23-83 at Clemson L 84-861-15-83 NORTH CAROLINA W 78-741-2-83 East Tennessee St. W 70-652-1-80 N.C. STATE L 79-81 1-5-80 NORTH CAROLINA L 65-663-4-77 Va. Commonwealth+ L 47-482-8-75 at Bridgewater W 57-52
*ACC Tournament quarterfinals**ACC Tournament semifinals***ACC Tournament finalsNCAA Tournament Championship gameNCAA Tournament East Regional final+VAIAW Tournament