No. 21 UVa Hosts No. 20 UNC In 'Pink Zone' Contest on ESPN2

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – No. 21 Virginia hosts No. 20 North Carolina on Monday night at 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN2. The game will be broadcast over the airwaves on WINA 1070 in the Charlottesville area with Jay James (play-by-play), Myron Ripley (color analyst) and Larry Johnson (statistician) calling the action.

This game is part of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) “Pink Zone” initiative – a global, unified effort to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. Virginia encourages all fans to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness. The UVa Cancer Center will have its mobile mammography unit on display outside the arena. During halftime, doctors, nurses and patients from the UVa Cancer Center will be recognized.

For the second-straight season, Virginia will be wearing its pink uniforms.

Virginia (18-6, 7-3 ACC) is coming off of a 69-63 overtime victory at Miami on Thursday (Feb. 11), the Cavaliers’ third-straight ACC win. ACC Preseason Player of the Year and Associated Press Preseason All-American Monica Wright (Woodbridge, Va.) scored 24 points for Virginia vs. the Hurricanes.

In 24 games this season, Wright has 16 games of 20 points or more and five 30+ point games, both of which lead the ACC. Her 39 points at Boston College on Jan. 21 tied for the second-highest total in school history (the UVa school record is 48 points) and is the highest scoring game by an ACC player this year.

She leads the team by averaging 22.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Her scoring average leads the ACC and ranks No. 8 in the nation. With 3.8 steals per game, Wright leads the conference in that category and is second in the nation.

Sophomores Chelsea Shine (Wayne, Pa.) and Whitny Edwards (Charlotte, N.C.) rank second and third on the team in scoring with 8.2 and 7.5 ppg, respectively.

North Carolina (16-7, 4-5 ACC) has lost four-consecutive conference games heading into Monday night’s match-up. The Tar Heels are ranked No. 18 by the Associated Press and No. 20 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.

The Tar Heels are led by Italee Lucas, who averages 15.9 points per game, and Cetera DeGraffenreid, who averages 12.6 points and 5.1 assists per game.

North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell is in her 24th season at Chapel Hill and has amassed a 556-209 record. Her overall career coaching tally over 35 years is 828-289.

Virginia trails the all-time series with Carolina, 43-31, but holds a 17-12 advantage in Charlottesville. The Tar Heels have won 13-consecutive games in the series, with the last Virginia victory coming on March 2, 2003 (69-59 at University Hall).

Up next, Virginia is back in action on Tuesday (Feb. 16) vs. Longwood at JPJA. Tip-off is 7 p.m.