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Virginia Hosts Boston College on Sunday at 1 p.m. in ?Pink Zone? Game
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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia women’s basketball team hosts Boston College on Sunday (Feb. 20) at 1 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena. The contest 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.
Additionally, 2500 pink t-shirts, provided by the UVa Health System Cancer Center, will be given away to fans attending the game. At halftime, there will be a video presentation and recognition of survivors and doctors. Fans will have an opportunity to enter a raffle to win a “Pink Zone” basketball signed by the team.
The game will be televised by the ACC’s Regional Sports Network (Comcast SportsNet in the Charlottesville area) with Mike Hogewood (play-by-play) and Stephanie Ready (analyst) calling the action. Live statistics will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
The game will air live locally on WINA 1070 AM with Jay James (play-by-play), Myron Ripley (analyst) and Larry Johnson (statistician) calling the contest. That audio broadcast is available on the Internet with a subscription to V Pass at VirginiaSports.com.
Virginia (15-12, 4-7 ACC) is jockeying for position in the conference standings with three regular-season games left. The Cavaliers are winners of two-consecutive games – at NC State and at No. 11 Maryland – and are currently tied for eighth place with Boston College.
The Eagles (17-9, 4-7 ACC) are coming off a 90-80 loss against Miami on Thursday night (Feb. 17) in Chestnut Hill. It was the their second-consecutive loss after a Feb. 13 loss at Duke (66-53).
For Virginia, Ataira Franklin (Bowie, Md.) has continued to assert herself as one of the top freshman in the Atlantic Coast Conference. In addition to leading the league in 3-point field goal percentage (29-for-57, 51 percent), she leads UVa in its 11 conference games by averaging 12.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
Franklin has scored in double digits in five-consecutive contests and was named the ACC Rookie of the Week for her performances against Florida State (16 points), NC State (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Maryland (11 points, eight rebounds).
In conference-only games, Franklin’s 20 3-pointers on 35 attempts (57 percent) rank her first in the ACC in 3-point field goal percentage.
Junior forward Chelsea Shine (Wayne, Pa.) continues to be the Cavaliers’ leading scorer (10.1 points per game), while sophomore center Simone Egwu (Odenton, Md.) leads the Cavs on the boards (5.3 rebounds per game).
Junior guard Ariana Moorer (Woodbridge, Va.) has continued to perform as one of the best ‘sixth-man’ players in the league, scoring 9.2 points per game and dishing out a team-high 78 assists. Moorer’s game-winning buzzer-beater against NC State lifted UVa to a 94-92 quadruple-overtime victory on Feb. 10. It was the longest game in program history.
As a team, Virginia is outrebounding its opponents, 1062-998, and holds an 11-1 record when it outrebounds an opponent.
In John Paul Jones Arena this season, the ‘Hoos are 11-3 and 2-3 in ACC games.
Boston College’s leading scorer is Carolyn Swords (17.3 ppg) and the 6-6 senior center also leads the squad with 8.8 rebounds per game. Classmate Stefanie Murphy averages 15.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game as the two seniors make up one of the most formidable frontcourts in the conference.
Sylvia Crawley is the head coach of Boston College and has compiled a 57-36 record in three plus seasons.
Virginia leads the all-time series with Boston College, 7-1, including a 3-0 mark at home. The sole BC victory came on Jan. 26, 2006 – a 57-43 victory in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The Cavaliers have won five-consecutive contests in the series.
Following Sunday’s contest, Virginia hosts No. 7 Duke on Thursday (Feb. 24) at 7 p.m.