Virgina Set To Battle With Lady Seminoles Sunday

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Feb. 24, 2001

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Virginia (17-12, 7-8 ACC)
vs.
Florida State (17-9, 9-6 ACC)
Feb. 25, 2001 – 7:00 p.m.
University Hall – Charlottesville, Va.

TONIGHT’S GAME
Virginia enters tonight’s game against Florida State with a 17-12 overallrecord. The Cavaliers’ have lost three of their last five games and droppedto 7-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 76-53 loss at Duke on February22. Florida State enters the game with a 17-9 overall record and a 9-6 mark inthe ACC. The Seminoles have won five of their eight games since defeatingVirginia, 60-58, on January 24, including a 71-69 victory at No. 4 Duke onFebruary 8. Clemson snapped Florida State’s five-game winning streak with a63-49 victory on February 22. Tonight’s game marks the 22nd meeting betweenthe two teams and the Cavaliers lead the series, 20-1.

SCOUTING FLORIDA STATE
The Seminoles enter tonight’s game tied with N.C. State for third inthe ACC with a 9-6 conference record. Four players are averaging double figuresin scoring, led by senior forward Brooke Wyckoff’s 15.3 points per game.

Sophomore guard April Traylor is averaging 14.7 points, followed by seniorcenter Levys Torres (11.2) and sophomore center Katelyn Vujas (10.5). Torresis Florida State’s leading rebounder with 10.0 per game. Sue Semrau, currentlyin her fourth year as the head coach at Florida State, has led the Seminolesto a 45-64 record.

SENIOR NIGHT
Tonight’s game will mark the final appearance of the regular seasonat University Hall for the five seniors on the University of Virginia women’sbasketball team. Elena Kravchenko is the tallest female basketball playerever to play for the Cavaliers and one of the tallest players ever in Division I.The 6-10 center played in 110 games during her four-year career and establishedherself as a force in the Virginia frontcourt as she consistently rankedamong the team leaders in blocked shots. Kravchenko played for the Belarusnational team the past three summers.

Chalois Lias became one of the top defensive players on the teamduring her four years at Virginia and ranked among the league leaders inblocked shots throughout her senior season. The senior forward played muchlarger than her 6-1 frame because of her great leaping ability and appeared in112 games during her collegiate career.Dean’na Mitchelson served as one of the team captains this year andestablished herself as an imposing figure in the Cavaliers frontcourt. A strongpresence on the boards, she was consistently among the team`s top rebounders.The 6-2 forward started 18 of the 97 games played during her four-yearcareer.

Katie Tracy also served as one of the team captains for the Cavaliersthis season. The 5-5 guard played a key role as point guard for the Cavaliersand played in 88 games during her Virginia career. Atwo-sport athlete, Tracywas also a four-year starting midfielder for the Cavaliers’ nationally rankedsoccer team. An outstanding student, Tracy was a member of the ACC All-Academicteam.

Svetlana Volnaya became the 19th Virginia player to score 1,000career points on February 22 at Duke. The 6-1 senior also served as one ofthe team captains this season. Volnaya established herself as one of the topoffensive players during her three-year career at Virginia and earned KodakHonorable Mention All-American and All-ACC honors in 1999-2000. Shehas annually been ranked among the league leaders in a number of statisticalcategories, including scoring, three-point field goal percentage and free throwshooting.

LAST MEETING
Senior Levys Torres hit the game-winning shot on her own offensiverebound with 0.2 seconds left in the game to lead Florida State to a 60-58 victoryover No. 24 Virginia on January 24 at the Tallahassee-Leon County CivicCenter. Torres led FSU with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The win, which wasFSU’s first ever over the Cavaliers, moved the Seminoles to 12-6 overall and4-4 in the ACC, while UVA fell to 13-8 and 4-4 in league play.

The first half saw both teams play sluggish as the Seminoles andCavaliers combined for a total of 25 turnovers and shot 27 percent from thefield. The Seminoles started the game missing shots on four of their first fivetrips down the floor until Torres stole the ball and ignited the Seminoles on amini run which gave FSU a 6-4 lead on two Brooke Wyckoff free throws at the16:11 mark. With 12:10 on the clock, the Seminoles, led by Katelyn Vujas’ 11points, went on a 15-4 run the rest of the half and led 25-19 at the break. TheSeminole defense held the Cavaliers to just one field goal in the half’s final 12minutes and FSU outrebounded UVA, 27-21. Virginia was led by SchuyeLaRue’s eight points and five rebounds.

The Seminoles came out intense on defense in the second half.Sophomore Shinikki Whiting sparked the Seminoles with two three pointersearly in the second. April Traylor pushed her game up a notch with a three-pointplay with 8:30 remaining in the second half giving the Seminoles a four-pointcushion at 46-42. Virginia took its first lead of the second half at 49-48 atthe 7:05 mark and what followed were two ties and seven lead changes. TheSeminoles and the Cavaliers battled back and forth until Chelsea Whitakerscored at the 1:11 mark to give UVA a 58-57 lead. After a missed FSU shot,Whitaker took the defensive rebound with 50 seconds remaining. The Cavs randown the clock to 18 seconds when LaRue turned over the ball, giving theTribe a chance for the win. Vujas finished the game with 14 points and ninerebounds while Whiting added 10 points and four rebounds. FSU shot just 34percent from the field, but outrebounded UVA, 45-38. The Cavs, who shot 37percent from the field, were led by LaRue’s 16 points and eight rebounds.Marcie Dickson added 14 points for the Cavaliers.