Q&A with Ariana Moorer

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Sophomore point guard Ariana Moorer and the women’s basketball team returns to action Thursday night at Miami before playing host to North Carolina in a Big Monday matchup at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. Moorer, a native of Woodbridge, Va., recently caught up with VirginiaSports.com to chat about the season thus far, the best and worst parts of being a point guard and who she looks up to in the basketball world.

Question: How would you describe the season so far?
Moorer: It’s been a little bit of a rollercoaster. We were on a four-game winning streak, then we lost at Wake Forest. Wins over Clemson and Maryland so now we are just rebuilding again.

Question: What are the team’s goals for the rest of the year?
Moorer: There are always bigger visions – an ACC championship and doing well in the NCAA Tournament. But right now, we are just looking for consistency, one game at a time.

Question: How do you think you have improved since your freshman season?
Moorer: I am more mature than I was last year. I know what’s going on – where the ball needs to go, to whom, at what times. Just being smarter with the ball and being a better point guard.

Question: What is the best and worst part about being a point guard?
Moorer: The best part is you’re the coach on the court. The worst part is taking the heat for everything, even if it’s not your fault. I like that though – it’s what I live for.

Question: How did you get started playing basketball?
Moorer: I came out playing basketball! I started playing at four years old. My mom had me playing at Boys and Girls Clubs and rec league ball, and from there I just took off.

Question: What do you love about it?
Moorer: Everything. It is my passion. Feeling the ball in your hands, pushing it out, shooting the J and leaving your hand up, making a nice pass, the and-ones. Everything about it is great.

Question: What are you thinking about majoring in at UVa?
Moorer: Either media studies or sociology, I’m not sure yet.

Question: What has been your favorite class at UVa thus far?
Moorer: I took a gender in sports class that I really enjoyed. We talked about females in athletics and that evolution from where it was to where it is now.

Question: Is there anybody you look up to? A role model in the basketball world?
Moorer: Definitely Monica Wright. I don’t know if a lot of people know this but Moni and I have been playing with each other since we were little. We grew up in the same neighborhood. When we come home we always hang out, it’s like we are connected at the hip. Wherever she is, I am. She is a great person and a great basketball player. She has really been my inspiration to stay positive and do the right thing.