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CHARLOTTESVILLE The fourth-seeded and 24th-ranked Virginia women’s basketball team will face the 13th-seed UC Santa Barbara Sunday in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Tip-off from the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va., is 9:30 p.m. (or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the 7 p.m. game), and the contest will be televised on ESPN2.
Additionally, live audio is available through V Pass and live statistics can be accessed at www.VirginiaSports.com.
Virginia is making its 22nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, a mark that only five other programs have attained. The Hoos have appeared in three Final Fours (1990, 1991, 1992). In all-time games at the NCAA Tournament, Virginia has compiled a 31-21 (.596) mark. UVa has been a No. 4 seed three times in its history (1989, 1997, 2000). All three of those years, the Cavaliers advanced to the regional semifinals.
In its last NCAA appearance in 2005, UVa was seeded sixth and won its first-round game against No. 11 Old Dominion, 79-57, in Minneapolis, Minn. In the second round vs. Minnesota, Virginia fell 73-58.
Virginia has a 1-1 all-time record against UC Santa Barbara. The teams’ last meeting came on Dec. 2, 2001 – a 72-71 UVa victory on its home court. The other meeting in the series was on Dec. 28, 2000 – a 78-67 Gauchos victory in Santa Barbara.
Senior point guard and third team All-ACC selection Sharne Zoll became the Atlantic Coast Conference’s all-time assists leader on Feb. 21 vs. Clemson, breaking the 16-year-old record held by Dawn Staley (729; 1989-92). Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Zoll has dished out 772 assists and is averaging 6.3 per game.
Monica Wright, a sophomore and second team All-ACC honoree, leads the Cavaliers on both ends of the floor. She leads the team and the ACC in scoring, averaging 18.2 points per game. The reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, Wright has been named the conference’s player of the week twice this year (Dec. 3 and March 3) and was also selected as a member of the Naismith Trophy preseason watch list. Wright scored her 1,000th-career point on Feb. 28 at Boston College, becoming the third Cavalier to do so this year.
Down low for Virginia, third team All-ACC selection Lyndra Littles and honorable mention honoree Aisha Mohammed have emerged as one of the strongest frontcourts in the league. Littles ranks second on the team and seventh in the ACC in scoring (16.3 ppg), while Mohammed has registered 13 double-doubles on the year and nearly averages one (12.9 points, 9.1 rebounds per game).
Rounding out the Cavaliers’ starting lineup is sophomore Paulisha Kellum. While her reputation can be described as underrated, she recently exploded offensively at No. 4/4 Maryland on Feb. 8 for 23 points and averages 9.1 ppg.
Santa Barbara (23-7) is led by Jessica Wilson (12.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg), Jenna Green (11.5 ppg) and Kat Suderman (10.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg). The Gauchos earned an automatic bid to the tournament after winning the Big West conference tournament. Head coach Mark French is in his 21st season at UCSB.