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Virginia Hosts St. Joseph's On Saturday Night
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March 16, 2006
This Week
The Virginia Cavaliers open play in the 2006 Women’s National Invitation Tournament in the first round on Saturday, March 18 against St. Joseph’s at 7 p.m. in University Hall. The winner will advance to second round action on March 19-21. Date, time, and location information will be announced after the completion of first round action.
Charlottesville’s WINA Radio (1070 AM) will broadcast each UVa game live with Jed Williams and Myron Ripley calling the action.
Scouting St. Joseph’s
The Hawks, under the guidance of sixth-year head coach Cindy Griffin, stand 20-10 overall following a 53-51 loss to George Washington in the Atlantic 10 Championship. Senior forward Faith Schutte is the top active scorer with 9.8 ppg, while freshman center Hillary Klimowica follows with 9.0 ppg and a team-best 7.2 rpg. SJU has three players out for the season with various injuries, including leading scorer Ayahan Cornish who chipped in 12.1 ppg in 22 games before tearing an ACL in her left knee.
Series vs. Hawks
Virginia stands 3-4 against St. Joseph’s in all-time series action. In their last meeting on Dec. 18, 2004, the Hawks claimed a 74-67 win in Philadelphia. UVa was paced by then-freshmen Siedah Williams (Cleveland, Ohio) with 23 points and Brenna McGuire (Winchester, Mass.) with 11 points. Williams and McGuire each earned a starting nod in that game, the first of their Virginia careers.
24th Postseason Appearance
Virginia is making its 24th postseason tournament appearance in 2006 since the school started sponsoring women’s basketball in 1974. UVa has appeared in 21 NCAA tournaments, the 1981 AIAW tournament, and the 1980 WNIT. In the `Hoos prior WNIT, UVa beat Wayland Baptist (67-62) in first round action before falling to North Carolina (68-61) in the second round and Drake (67-53) in the semifinal.
Cavaliers vs. WNIT Field of 40
This season, Virginia stands 2-0 against the 39 other teams in the WNIT, meeting just two participants- Miami and Marquette- during the regular season. In all-time series history, the Cavaliers are 43-15 (.741) against all the 2006 tourney qualifiers.
Last Postseason Appearance
In 2005, Virginia made its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance. The No. 6 seed Cavaliers defeated No. 11 seed Old Dominion, 79-57, before falling to host and No. 3 seed Minnesota, 73-58. Virginia has reached the “Sweet 16” 12 times, advancing to the prestigious Final Four three times (1990, 1991, 1992).
All-ACC Honorees
Two Cavaliers earned All-ACC recognition. Sophomore point guard Sharneé Zoll (Marlboro, N.J.) earned Third Team All-ACC honors, while freshman forward Lyndra Littles (Washington, D.C.) was named to the Honorable Mention All-Freshman Team.
In the Statistics
After 29 contests, junior Siedah Williams leads the Cavaliers with 11.7 points per game. Senior Tiffany Sardin follows with 11.3 ppg and a team-best 6.7 rpg. Sophomore Sharneé Zoll is third with 11.1 ppg and leads UVa with 181 assists. Freshman Lyndra Littles adds 9.3 ppg. UVa out-scores its opponents by +7.6 points and out-rebounds foes by +3.6 boards.