Women's Hoops Season in Review

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March 16, 1999

20-9 overall, 12-4 ACC
12-3 home, 7-4 away , 1-2 neutral
20th in AP poll; 20th in WBCA poll

Team Leaders
Scoring: DeMya Walker, 15.0 ppg
Rebounding: DeMya Walker, 8.5 rpg
Assists: Renee Robinson 3.0 apg
Steals: DeMya Walker, 1.9 spg
Blocks: DeMya Walker, 2.9 bpg

For the 16th time in 22 years, Head Coach Debbie Ryan guided theCavaliers to a 20-win season. After overcoming last year’sdisappointing19-10 season, Virginia lived up to the preseason expectations andfinishedsecond in the ACC regular season and gained the number two seed in theconference tournament.

Among the 20 wins this season, one win in particular proved tobe amilestone for Ryan. On Feb. 21, the Cavaliers defeated Florida State73-55to award Ryan with her 500th career victory. She became only the sixthcoach in NCAA history to record 500 wins at one school.

The Cavaliers made its 16th straight appearance in the NCAATournament but lost in a disappointing first round game to 18th rankedPennState 82-69 in Ruston, La. Currently, Virginia is ranked 20th in boththeAP and USA Today polls.

Senior DeMya Walker, already the school’s most prolific shotblocker, became the ACC’s all-time blocked shot leader with her soloblockin her last collegiate game of her career. She ended her four-year runwith 330 career blocks to take the conference lead by one block. Walkeralso finished her career as Virginia’s all-time leader in field goalpercentage (.557).

Virginia In The NCAA Tournament
Virginia made its 16th straight appearance in the NCAATournamentthis season with an at-large bid. Only Tennessee and Louisiana Tech havemore consecutive appearances in the Big Dance 18 straight years. TheCavaliers have competed in the NCAA Tournament every year since 1984.Twoother teams, Georgia and Old Dominion, have been to the NCAA Tournament16times, but not in consecutive years.

This was the third straight year that Virginia was placed in theWestRegion and this year’s ninth seed is the lowest seed that the Cavaliersreceived in its 16-year tournament history. Last year, Virginia was a#6seed in the West and travelled to Tucson, Ariz. where it defeatedSouthernMethodist 77-68 in the first round and lost to Arizona 94-77 in thesecondround.

In the Polls
The Cavaliers have been ranked every week in either the AP orUSAToday poll since Jan. 8, 1984. The Cavaliers have been ranked a total of280 consecutive weeks in at least one of the polls.

Virginia holds the longest active streak of any ACC team in theAPpoll 182 weeks. The current streak in the AP poll started on Nov. 20,1989.The Cavaliers have appeared in every USA Today poll for a total of 260consecutive weeks.

Virginia in the NCAA Tournament
Virginia entered the 1999 NCAA Tournament as the ninth seed intheWest Region. The ninth seed was the lowest seed for the Cavaliers in its16-year NCAA tournament history. Virginia holds a record of 27-16 in theNCAA Tournament (.571). UVa’s loss to Penn State in the first roundmarkedthe Cavalier’s earliest exit from the Tournament since 1986 whenVirignialost to James Madison 71-62.

Below is the breakdown of how the Cavaliers have faredround-by-round:

first round:       5-4second round:     11-1regional semi's    7-4regional finals    3-4semifinal game     1-2championship game  0-1

1998-99 Individual Honors

DeMya Walker
Top 10 Naismith Award Finalist (only ACC player to be named afinalist)
Women’s Basketball Journal Defensive All-America Second Team
Richmond Times-Dispatch All-State Team
ACC All-Conference First Team
ACC All-Tournament Second Team
Nationwide Cavalier Classic All-Tournament Team
ACC Player of the Week (Dec. 14)
ACC Player of the Week (Feb. 1)
ACC Preseason Player of the Year
ACC Preseason All-Conference First Team
Preseason All-America
– Street & Smith’s (first team)
– Preview Sports (first team)
– Athlon (third team)
– Lindy’s (third team)
– Women’s Basketball Journal (third team)

Erin Stovall
ACC All-Conference Third Team
Richmond Times-Dispatch All-State Team
ACC Player of the Week (Jan. 4) Nationwide Cavalier Classic All-Tournament Team

Monick Foote
ACC All-Conference Third Team
Nationwide Cavalier Classic All-Tournament Team
ACC Preseason All-Conference Second Team
Preseason All-America
– Street & Smith’s (HM)

Ryan Becomes Sixth Coach to Reach 500
With the win over Florida State on Feb. 21, Virginia Head CoachDebbie Ryan won her 500th game and became the sixth coach to rack up 500wins at one school in Division I.

Only five other coaches in Division I have attained 500 wins atoneschool: Pat Summit (Tennessee), Jody Conradt (Texas), Kay Yow (N.C.State),Mike Granelli (St. Peter’s) and Marian Washington (Kansas).

Ryan, in her 22nd season, has averaged 23 wins per season andholdsa career and Virginia record of 501-174 (.742).

Virginia Is One of ACC’s Top Defensive Teams
The Cavaliers established themselves as one of the ACC’s topdefensive teams. Virginia ranked second in the ACC in scoring defense(63.8) and second in field goal percentage defense (.378). TheCavaliersled the conference in blocked shots (6.1), ranked third in steals (10.3)and third in turnover margin (3.5).

Walker is Considered One of Nation’s Finest
DeMya Walker was named to the Women’s Basketball JournalDefensiveAll-America second team. The 6-3 power forward led Virginia in scoring,rebounding, steals and blocked shots. She tied the Atlantic CoastConference career blocked shot record and needs just one block to becomethe conference’s all-time leader.

The Women’s Basketball Journal Defensive All-America first teamincludes Semeka Randall (Tennessee), Mery Andrade (Old Dominion),LatashaDorsey (Louisiana State), Nicole Kubik (Nebraska) and Roxanne McCrory(Colorado State).

Joining Walker on the second team is Itoro Umoh (Clemson),Dominique Canty (Alabama), Chamique Holdsclaw (Tennessee) and Ruth Riley(Notre Dame).

Walker is also a finalist for the Naismith Award, given to thetopwomen’s collegiate basketball player in the country. She is the onlyACCplayer named as a finalist. In addition to Walker, the ten finalistsofthe Naismith Award are Svetlana Abrosimova (Connecticut), Canty, TamikaCatchings (Tennessee), Becky Hammon (Colorado State), Holdsclaw, MaylanaMartin (UCLA), Randall, Stephanie White-McCarty (Purdue) and TamikaWhitmore (Memphis).

New and Improved Free Throw Shooting
Virginia was the ACC’s top free throw shooting team (71.5percent)and it was the first time since the 1988-89 season that the Cavaliersshotover 70 percent from the foul line as a team. Six UVa players shotabove70 percent from the line this season: Katie Tracy (91.2, 11-12), LisaHosac(84.5, 49-58), Erin Stovall (75.7, 81-107), Lesley Brown (75.0, 48-64),Monick Foote (72.3, 60-83) and Svetlana Volnaya (70.0, 35-50).

Hosac put together a string of 30 straight free throws thisseasonwhich broke the school record. Stovall had a string of 13 straight freethrows broken in the ACC Tournament.

Walker Is The Team’s “Do Everything Player”
DeMya Walker can be considered one of the most complete playerstoever play at Virginia. She led the team in scoring (15.0), rebounding(8.5), steals (1.9) and blocked shots (2.9) and ranked second on theteamin assists (2.8).

In the ACC, she ranked first in blocks (2.9), third in rebounds(8.5), fourth in steals (1.9), fifth in field goal percentage (.549),andseventh in scoring (15.0).

Quick Notes
The starting centers of the ACC averaged only7.6points and 4.4 rebounds vs. the Cavaliers during the regular season.

Erin Stovall had the four highest scoring games on theVirginia squad this season. In addition to the 27 points at Georgia TechonFeb. 18, Stovall scored 26 vs. Clemson (Jan. 2), 25 vs. Duke (Jan. 4)and24 vs. North Carolina (Jan. 18).

The Cavaliers were more successful in the last four daysofthe week than in the first three days. Virginia was 11-2 (.846) in gamesplayed on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, and are 9-7 (.563)ingames played on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday.

Erin Stovall broke the record for three-point fieldgoalsmade by a sophomore. Stovall connected on 46 for the season to breakthemark set by Tora Suber (43) in 1995.

In the national stats, Virginia ranks 24th in field goalpercentage defense (37.2). DeMya Walker ranked fifth in blocked shots(2.9).

Robinson Better Since Injury
It might have taken an injury to improve Renee Robinson’sperformance on the court. Her stats improved after playing a gutsy 24minutes and dishing out six assists in the game following a sprainedleftankle injury on Jan. 14 and has since been a better player for CoachRyan.In the 14 games after the injury, Robinson improved to 3.8 points, 3.3rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Below is the comparison of Robinson’sstats prior to the injury, after the injury and her cumulative stats:

                  G   FG    Pts.  Reb.  Ast.  St.   Min.Prior to injury  15  14-35  2.5   2.0   2.5   1.3   22.5Post injury      14  22-49  3.9   3.4   3.6   1.8   29.3Cumulative       29  36-84  3.2   2.7   3.0   1.5   25.8  

Walker Becomes UVa’s All-Time Leader in FG%
DeMya Walker ended her career as UVa’s all-time leader in fieldgoal percentage (.557). She edged out Heather Burge (.546) who held ontothe career mark since 1993. Walker also tied Wendy Palmer for thesinglegame field goal percentage when she was 9-9 from the field (1.00) vs.Towson on Dec. 11, 1998.

In her career, Walker has recorded three of UVa’s toptensingle season field goal percentage marks. In 1997, Walker shot .598percent from the field for the third highest season mark. Last year,sheshot .552 from the field seventh-highest mark, and this season, she shot.549 for the eighth highest mark.

Below is the single season rankings and the career rankings forfield goal percentage:

Season FG% (min. 150 fgm)         M-A 1.  .623  Heather Burge, 1993 (258-414) 2.  .614  Wendy Palmer, 1993  (156-254) 3.  .598  DeMya Walker, 1997  (165-276) 4.  .568  Wendy Palmer, 1994  (221-389) 5.  .566  Wendy Palmer, 1995  (227-401) 6.  .554  Heather Burge, 1992 (255-460) 7.  .552  Cathy Grimes, 1984  (216-391) 8.  .552  DeMya Walker, 1998  (190-344) 9.  .549  DeMya Walker, 1999  (168-306)10.  .544  Tonya Cardoza, 1981 (197-362) Career FG% (min. 600 fgm)             M-A 1.  .557  DeMya Walker            (629-1129) 2.  .546  Heather Burge, 1990-93  (866-1587) 3.  .552  Wendy Palmer, 1993-96   (780-1412) 4.  .528  Cathy Grimes, 1982-85   (708-1342) 5.  .499  Nancy Mayer, 1983-87    (633-1268) 6.  .485  Daphne Hawkins, 1985-88 (635-1310) 7.  .481  Tammi Reiss, 1989-92    (633-1315) 8.  .578  Tonya Cardoza, 1987-91  (630-1319) 9.  .460  Dawn Staley, 1989-92    (753-1637)10.  .444  Donna Holt, 1985-88     (619-1393)

Hosac Breaks 18-year old Free Throw Record
Lisa Hosac hit 30 consecutive free throws before missing in theDuke game on Feb. 4. Hosac’s streak began when she made her last threefree throws in the VCU game on Nov. 24. She entered the Wake Forest gameonJan. 28 with a string of 26 straight made free throws which tied the18-year old record held by Sandy Glasson. With her 4-4 performance fromtheline vs. the Demon Deacons, Hosac broke Glasson’s record and extendedthestreak to 30.

Ryan Holds Advantage vs. Current ACC Coaches
Debbie Ryan holds a 138-71 record against the current coaches inthe ACC and holds a winning record versus every coach in the conference.

Ryan vs.

Jim Davis, Clemson               19-11Gail Goestenkors, Duke            9-6Sue Semrau, Florida St.           4-0Agnus Berenato, Georgia Tech     23-3Chris Weller, Maryland           31-20Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina  22-9Kay Yow, N.C. State              25-22Charlene Curtis, Wake Forest      5-0                                138-71

Walker Breaks ACC Career Blocked Shot Record
She tied the record with one block in the North Carolina game(Feb.28), but DeMya Walker broke the ACC’s all-time career blocked shotrecordwith her only block of the night in the last game of her college career.Walker blocked a shot vs. Penn State in the first round of the NCAATournament (Mar. 12) to become the conference’s all-time leader. Sheeclipsed the record held for the last 12 years by Dawn Royster of NorthCarolina.

   Player, team           Years    GP  Blk  Avg.1. DeMya Walker (UVa.)   1996-99  122  330  2.72. Dawn Royster (UNC)    1984-87  110  329  3.03. Peggy Caple (Clemson) 1982-85  119  298  2.5

Walker Moving Up in NCAA Block Party
With her 330 career blocked shots, DeMya Walker ranks 10th inNCAAhistory in blocked shots. The all-time NCAA record is 428 blocks byGeniaMiller (Cal State Fullerton, 1988-91).

                                            Last    Player, team                           Season   GP  Blk 1. Genia Miller (Cal State Fullerton)      1991   118  428 2. Heidi Gillingham (Vanderbilt)           1994   128  413 3. Rebecca Lobo (Connecticut)              1995   126  396 4. Chris Enger (San Diego)                 1993    96  372 5. Kara Wolters (Connecticut)              1997   137  370 6. Angela Gorsica (Vanderbilt)             1997   127  368 7. Trish Andrew (Michigan)                 1993   113  367 8. Denise Hogue (College of Charleston)    1993   106  359 9. Amy Lundquist (Loyola Marymount/DePaul) 1997   113  33610. DeMya Walker (Virginia)                 1999   121  329

Walker Ends Career Ranked Third in Career Rebounds
DeMya Walker can add one more accomplishment to her career atUVa.She ends her career with 932 rebounds which puts her in a tie for thirdplace in career rebounds with Cathy Grimes. She ranks 19th in the ACCincareer boards. Walker averaged 7.6 rebounds for her career. Here is howshe ranks among UVa’s greatest rebounders:

    Reb. Player (years)                 G1. 1221  Wendy Palmer  (1993-96)       1262.  955  Heather Burge (1990-93)       1353.  932  Cathy Grimes  (1982-85)       114    932  DeMya Walker  (1996-present ) 122

Duo Combines For Best Shooting Performance
DeMya Walker and Lesley Brown shot a combined 17-17 (1.000) inVirginia’s 102-44 win over Towson on Dec. 11 and recorded the topshootingperformance in UVa history. Walker tied Wendy Palmer for the bestindividual shooting performance in school history with her 9-9 shootingfrom the field. Brown’s 8-8 performance from the field completed thebestshooting performance by a duo in any single game in UVa history.

In Palmer’s 9-9 effort vs. Cleveland State on Nov. 29, 1995,MonickFoote was 5-5 from the field.

In the Towson game, Virginia shot 61.5 percent (40-65) thehighestfield goal percentage since Jan. 25, 1994 when the team shot 65.5percentvs. Duke (36-55).