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CHARLOTTESVILLE Virginia welcomes No. 4/4 Maryland to John Paul Jones Arena Friday night for a 7 p.m. ACC women’s basketball contest. The game will be televised regionally on the ACC’s Regional Sports Network, airing live on Comcast SportsNet Plus and DirectTV Channel 665 in the Charlottesville area. Mike Hogewood and Charlene Curtis will call the action. Additionally, the game will air on a tape delay on Comcast SportsNet and Fox Sports Net South.
Fans can access live audio through V Pass and the game will be broadcast over the radio on the Virginia Sports Network.
Virginia (13-4, 2-0 ACC) is riding a seven-game win streak and boasts a 9-1 record this year in John Paul Jones Arena. The contest with Maryland is a battle of two of the ACC’s three teams that are undefeated in league play (North Carolina is the other.) The Terrapins (20-1, 4-0 ACC) have won 10-straight games.
In the all-time series with Maryland, Virginia leads, 40-27, but has dropped four contests in a row to the Terps. The last Cavalier victory was on Feb. 20, 2005 (63-61 in Charlottesville.) Historically, UVa has held its ground against the Terps at home, owning a 21-7 record.
Under head coach Debbie Ryan, Virginia has beaten 42 opponents ranked ahead of it at the time of the meeting. The highest-ranked team an unranked UVa team has beaten was at No. 3 NC State (80-73, Jan. 17, 2000.)
Against ranked teams this season, Virginia owns a 1-2 record. The Cavaliers defeated No. 21/22 Texas on Nov. 23 at the Rainbow Wahine Classic, 86-83, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Despite a strong effort against No. 14/13 George Washington on Nov. 12, the Cavaliers dropped a close game, 70-68, at John Paul Jones Arena. They were also defeated on Dec. 5, 75-45, by No. 2/2 UConn.
Sophomore sensation Monica Wright continues to lead Virginia on both ends of the floor. She leads the team by averaging 17.6 points per game, which ranks fourth in the ACC. A tenacious defender as well as a prolific scorer, Wright also ranks first on the squad in steals per game (2.7), good enough for fourth in the league. The reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, Wright has been named the conference’s player of the week once this year and was also selected as a member of the Naismith Trophy preseason watch list.
As for their inside game, the Cavaliers’ post dominance has been evident in the play of junior Aisha Mohammed. The center has posted seven double-doubles on the year, and nearly averages one (12.6 ppg, 9.1 rpg.)
Also coming on strong for the Cavs is sophomore Enong Stovall. She has started the last four games in place of an injured Lyndra Littles and is averaging 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in those games.
The Terrapins are led by Kristi Toliver, who averages 17.5 points and 7.8 assists per game. Three other Maryland players average double-digits in scoring; Marissa Coleman (16.1 ppg; 8.0 rpg), Laura Harper (14.2 ppg) and Crystal Langhorne (14.2 ppg).
Maryland has defeated ACC foes Wake Forest, Clemson, Boston College and Duke en route to its 4-0 league record. Head coach Brenda Frese is in her sixth season in College Park, but is not expected to travel to road games because of her pregnancy.