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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 15th-ranked Virginia women’s basketball team hits the road to face reigning NCAA Champion and sixth-ranked Tennessee Monday night. Tip-off from Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn., is 7:00 p.m., and the game airs live on SportSouth. Live statistics are available at VirginiaSports.com.
Virginia defeated High Point, 78-48, to open the season on Friday night. Freshman point guard Ariana Moorer led the Cavaliers with 19 points, while Monica Wright added 16 points and seven steals.
Wright, recently named a Wooden Award candidate and to the preseason All-ACC team, led the team in scoring last year with 17.6 points per game. The 2006-07 ACC Rookie of the Year, Wright followed up her freshman season by garnering Associated Press honorable mention All-America, WBCA Region 2 All-America, All-ACC second team, ACC all-defensive team and ACC all-tournament team honors at the end of last season.
This year, the Cavaliers have been picked to finish fourth in the ACC and are ranked No. 15 in both preseason polls (Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today).
Tennessee is ranked No. 7 by the Associated Press and No. 6 by the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The Lady Vols opened the season with a 68-39 win over San Francisco on Saturday afternoon.
Monday will be the 13th meeting between Virginia and Tennessee, with the Lady Vols holding an 11-1 advantage in the series. The sole Cavalier victory was in 1990, a 79-75 overtime win in the East Regional Final (Norfolk, Va.)
On Tennessee’s home court, Virginia has an 0-4 record.
The last meeting was in 2003, a 81-51 Tennessee victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Up next for Virginia is a Friday, Nov. 21 contest at No. 25 Old Dominion. The game is a rematch of a second round NCAA Tournament game last season, which the Lady Monarchs won in overtime, 88-85.