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CHARLOTTESVILLE Wrapping up a stretch of five games in nine days, the 19th-ranked Virginia women’s basketball team hosts East Carolina Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast over the airwaves on WINA 1070 in the Charlottesville area with Jay James, Myron Ripley and Larry Johnson calling the action. Live audio can be accessed on the internet with V Pass. Live statistics are available at VirginiaSports.com.
Saturday is another Family Day at John Paul Jones Arena. Fans can purchase four tickets, four Pepsi products and four hot dogs for $32.
Virginia (6-2) is coming off an impressive 63-39 victory at Illinois Thursday night in the second annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Monica Wright led all scorers with 23 points and had a career-high nine steals, while freshman Ariana Moorer notched her first career double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Wright, named a Wooden Award candidate and to the preseason All-ACC team, leads the team in scoring at 21.6 points per game. She leads the league in that category and has had two 30+ point games this season (35 points on Nov. 17 at Tennessee and 31 points on Nov. 29 at Marquette). Wright, the ACC Player of the Week on Nov. 24, also leads the team in steals (4.1 per game).
Center Aisha Mohammed is the only player in the ACC averaging a double-double (as of Dec. 5) with 12.9 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Mohammed has tallied four double-doubles this season and 18 in her two-year career.
Several Cavaliers are at, or near the top of, the ACC rankings. In statistics as of Dec. 5, two UVa players rank in the top-20 in scoring in the league. Wright leads the league at 21.6 ppg, followed by Mohammed at No. 16 (12.9 ppg).
Wright ranks second in the league in steals (4.1 per game), Mohammed ranks first in rebounding (10.0 per game) and Moorer ranks 10th in assists (3.8 per game).
East Carolina is 4-2 on the year and fell to North Carolina A&T, 72-53, in its last outing (Nov. 29). The Pirates are led by LaCoya Terry (18.5 points per game), Jasmine Young (9.2 points per game) and Kim Gay (8.7 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game).
Saturday will be the fourth meeting between East Carolina and Virginia and ECU leads the series, 2-1. The last meeting was a 64-62 Pirate victory on Jan. 10, 1982, in Greenville, N.C.
Up next for UVa is two home games on Dec. 18 (vs. Monmouth, 7 p.m.) and Dec. 21 (vs. Mount St. Mary’s, 1 p.m.). The Marriott Cavalier Classic, featuring the Cavaliers, Rider, UMBC and Louisiana Tech, will be held at JPJA Dec. 28-29.