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Virginia Set For Showdown With No. 3 Tennessee Sunday at JPJA
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CHARLOTTESVILLE – Virginia and No. 3 Tennessee will face each other for the fourth-consecutive season on Sunday (Nov. 20) at John Paul Jones Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game will be webcast on ESPN3 with Cara Capuano (play-by-play) and Christy Winters-Scott (analyst) calling the action. The contest can also be heard over the airwaves on WINA 1070 AM in the Charlottesville area and that broadcast, along with live statistics, can be accessed at VirginiaSports.com.
Sunday is Kids Day at JPJA. There will be a Kids Zone beginning 90 minutes prior to tip-off located behind the bleachers in section 118 and a postgame autograph session with the Virginia women’s basketball team.
Since beginning a home-and-home series with the Lady Volunteers in 2008, UVa is 1-2 against Tennessee including an 83-82 upset victory at Thompson-Boling Arena on Nov. 17, 2008.
Virginia trails the all-time series with Tennessee, 2-13, including a 0-2 mark in games played in Charlottesville.
Some notable UT-UVa match-ups throughout the years:
• March 24, 1990 – Virginia claims its first win in the series, a 79-75 overtime victory in the East Regional Final that sent UVa to its first of three-consecutive NCAA Final Fours.
• March 31, 1991 – Tennessee avenges the previous year’s loss with a 70-67 overtime victory in the 1991 national championship game in New Orleans, La. It remains Virginia’s only appearance in the NCAA championship game.
• Nov. 17, 2008 – Virginia’s Monica Wright scores 35 points en route to Virginia’s 83-82 upset of No. 5 Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena. At the time, Virginia became just the 10th-ever opponent to defeat Tennessee on its homecourt. Then-freshmen Ariana Moorer (four points) and Chelsea Shine (four points, six rebounds) both played in that contest.
First year Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle has not faced Tennessee as a head coach, but while she was an assistant at Duke (1993-2002), the Blue Devils faced the Lady Volunteers three times. Most notably, in 1999, No. 1 seed Duke and No. 2 seed Tennessee met in the East Regional Final in Greensboro, N.C., on March 22. Duke won, 69-63, to advance to its first NCAA Final Four. The other meetings were: Dec. 6, 1998 – Tennessee 74, Duke 60 – and Dec. 27, 2001 – Tennessee 89, Duke 68.
In their first three contests of the 2011-12 season, Virginia opponents are averaging 42.3 points per game – the second-lowest average in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia opponents’ scores: Appalachian State 48, Providence 38, High Point 41. Through two games of this season, Tennessee is averaging 90.5 points per game. Tennessee’s two point totals: vs. Pepperdine 89, vs. Miami 92.
Through three games, Virginia’s bench players have averaged 27.0 points per game. Sophomore Jazmin Pitts leads the team by averaging 12.0 points per game despite not starting a game yet this season.
Ranked No. 3 in both national polls, Tennessee is 2-0 on the season after defeating Pepperdine (89-57 at home on Nov. 13) and Miami (92-76 at home on Nov. 15). Glory Johnson leads five Lady Vols that are averaging in double figures at 16.5 points per game. Tennessee is outscoring its opponents, 90.5 to 66.5 and outrebounding opponents 46.0 to 39.5.
Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt is in her 38th season and has a record of 1,073-199.
Following Sunday’s game, Virginia travels to Honolulu, Hawaii, for three contests at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort Showdown. UVa faces Texas (Nov. 25), Hawaii (Nov. 26) and California (Nov. 27).