Women's Hoops Prepares for No. 15 Clemson

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January 29, 1999

No.15 Clemson (17-3, 7-3)
at No. 19 Virginia (14-5, 7-2)
Jan. 31, 1999 – 2:00 p.m.
University Hall (8,457), Charlottesville, Va.
TV: none
Radio: WINA 1070 AM

The Cavaliers enter today’s game on a three-game winning streak. This game will be a battle for second place in the conference standings with Virginia currently in second place behind Duke (10-0). If the Cavaliers win, they will take sole possession of second place. If Clemson emerges with a win on Sunday, the Cavaliers and Tigers will share second place.

Virginia defeated Wake Forest 80-51 on Thursday night. Erin Stovall and Monick Foote each scored 15 points to lead the Cavaliers while DeMya Walker recorded her second straight double-double and seventh of the season and with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Lisa Hosac, who established a new school record for consecutive free throws made, scored 11 points.The Cavaliers held Wake Forest to .232 from the field (13-56). It was the third straight game that the Cavaliers scored 80 or more points.

The Cavaliers are 9-2 in University Hall and 5-3 on the road.

DeMya Walker continues to lead the team in scoring (15.5 ppg), rebounding (8.8 rpg), assists (3.0 apg) and blocked shots (3.1 bpg). Erin Stovall has moved into second place in scoring (15.3 ppg) while Monick Foote ranks third (12.8 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 274 consecutive weeks in at least one of the polls.

Virginia holds the longest active streak of any ACC team in the AP poll – 176 weeks. The current streak in the AP poll started on Nov. 20, 89. The Cavaliers have appeared in every USA Today poll for a total of 254 consecutive weeks.

How the Teams Match Up

                     Virginia      Clemson    Points              78.6         75.7    Points Allowed      62.9         57.1    Rebounds            40.9         44.4    Rebound Margin      +2.6         +4.5    FG %                .447         .431    FG% defense         .369         .356    3-pt FG %           .294         .340    FT %                .707         .699    Assists             14.7         15.8    Turnovers           18.0         15.5    Blocks               6.4          3.9    Steals              10.9         10.3

The Series with Clemson

Today’s game is the 47th meeting between the two teams. Although Virginia holds a slim 25-21 edge in the series, the Tigers have won six of the last nine meetings, including two of the last three games in University Hall.

This is the 30th time Debbie Ryan and Jim Davis have coached against each other with Ryan holding an 18-11 lead in the coach’s series.

Last Time Vs. Clemson

Monick Foote hit two free throws with 22.4 seconds left in overtime to lift #22 Virginia to a 67-66 win over #10 Clemson on Jan. 2. It was the Cavaliers’ first meeting with a ranked opponent this year.

Itoro Umoh had two chances to tie it for Clemson, but she missed a pair of foul shots with 7.3 seconds to play. A Clemson foul put Svetlana Volnaya at the line, but she missed the front end of the one-and-one. Umoh grabbed the rebound and drove the length of the court, but her shot hit underneath the backboard as time expired.

Virginia sank 24-28 free throws, while the Lady Tigers made only 26-41.Clemson’s Amy Geren sent the game into overtime with a pair of free throws with 36.7 seconds left, tying it at 59. Umoh made one of two free throws to give Clemson a 66-65 lead with 48 seconds left.

Erin Stovall led Virginia with a career-high 26 points, including 11-11 free throws and three, three-pointers. DeMya Walker contributed 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Geren finished with 16 points, while Umoh had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Five and Counting

Head Coach Debbie Ryan needs only five 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 495-170 (.756).

Sly Better Off Bench

Svetlana Volnaya, or “Sly” as her teammates call her, earned a starting role early in the season and started the first 10 games. Her productivity fell off in the Auburn game and Sly found herself in a reserve role in eight of the next nine games. Her stats proved she was more valuable off the bench. Below is the comparison of her stats when she starts and when she subs:

          Games   Pts.   Reb.  FG%   3-pt FG%    Min.Starter    11     7.2    2.5  .329    .205       19.6Reserve     8     7.6    3.5  .440    .400       19.2

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 7.6 rebounds per game and 853 total for her career. She needs one more to move ahead of Heidi Burge in fourth place and to move into the prestigious company of Cathy Grimes, Heather Burge and Wendy Palmer.

               Reb.   Player        (years)          G    1. 1221    Wendy Palmer  (1993-96)       126    2.  955    Heather Burge (1990-93)       135    3.  932    Cathy Grimes  (1982-85        114    4.  853    Heidi Burge   (1990-93)       134        853    DeMya Walker  (1996-present)  112    6.  827    Dawn Bryant   (1986-89)       123    7.  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 moved into second place ahead of Tammi Reiss with the first three-pointer she hit in the Wake Forest game on Jan. 28. Stovall who connected on 32 trifectas last season, holds onto eighth place with 65 career three-pointers.

        3FGM   Player          (years)           Att.    1.   220   Tora Suber      (1994-97)         666    2.   142   Monick Foote    (1995-present)    392    3.   139   Tammi Reiss     (1989-92)         334    4.   134   Dena Evans      (1990-93)         370    5.   131   Dawn Staley     (1989-92)         371    6.    91   Kate Mooney     (1995-present**)  282          91   Mimi McKinney   (1995-98 )        288    8.    65   Erin Stovall    (1997-present)    225    9.    64   Kathy McConnell (1987-89)         210   10.    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 306 career blocked shots. With her block in the Florida State game on Jan. 22, she moved into sole possession of second place in the ACC standings. She needs 24 more blocks to become the ACC’s all-time leader.

        Player        team        Years    GP   Blk Avg.    1.  Dawn Royster  (UNC)       1984-87  110  329 3.0    2.  DeMya Walker  (UVa.)      1996-    112  306 2.7    3.  Peggy Caple   (Clemson)   1982-85  119  298 2.5

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 18.4 points per game. When she is in the starting line-up, the Cavaliers are 8-2. Against ranked opponents, Stovall averages 25.0 ppg.

On the Boards

Crashing the boards or lack thereof 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. The Cavaliers have been outrebounded in seven games this season and are 2-5 in those games. However, when the Cavaliers outrebound their opponent, they are 12-0.

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 +2.6 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).

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).

Ryan Holds Advantage in Series with Current ACC Coaches

Debbie Ryan holds a 131-67 record against the current coaches in the ACC and holds a winning record versus every coach in the conference.

Ryan vs.

     Jim Davis, Clemson                 18-11    Gail Goestenkors, Duke               9-5    Sue Semrau, Florida St.              2-0    Agnus Berenato, Georgia Tech        22-3    Chris Weller, Maryland             30-20    Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina     22-6    Kay Yow, N.C. State                24-22    Charlene Curtis, Wake Forest         4-0                             Total     131-67

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.