Virginia Hosts Wake Forest in a Monday Match-Up

Story Links

Date and Time Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, 7 p.m. Location Charlottesville, Va. | John Paul Jones Arena
Media GameTracker | Listen Live | ESPN3 (outside the ACC Footprint) TV: ACC Regional Sport Networks:FS South, FS Florida, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus, NESN, FS Detroit Plus, FS Arizona, FS North Plus, FS San Diego, FS Prime Ticket Additional Information Ticket Information | Game Notes(.pdf) | 2012-13 Season Stats | ExperienceUVaWomensBasketball | 2012-13 Record Book (.pdf)
Social Media @VirginiaWBB Twitter | Facebook

Feb. 23, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- The Virginia women’s basketball team (15-11, 7-8 ACC) returns home to host Wake Forest (11-16, 4-11 ACC) for a rare Monday contest on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Regional Networks and streamed online on ESPN3 outside the ACC footprint.

Both teams come into the game on three-game losing streaks, with Wake going 2-8 in its last 10 games and Virginia going 4-6.

The Cavaliers have dominated the all-time series with a 63-4 record against the Demon Deacons. However, two of Wake Forest’s victories have come in the last five meetings, including a 74-68 victory in the first round of the 2011 ACC Tournament. Earlier this season, the Cavaliers held off a late rally by the Demon Deacons to earn a 69-64 victory in Winston-Salem.

Wake Forest is led by first-year head coach Jen Hoover. Hoover spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Virginia (2004-07) under Debbie Ryan and also spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Cal, working on Joanne Boyle’s staff from 2009-11.Virginia is second in the ACC in free throw percentage (73.7 percent) while Wake Forest is last in the ACC (61.4 percent). Virginia is fourth in scoring defense, allowing 58.3 points per game, while the Deacons are last in the ACC, allowing 72.0 points per contest. In the battle of the boards, Virginia is fourth in the conference in rebounding margin (+3.5) and Wake is tenth in rebounding margin (-2.2). Both teams are averaging 9.0 steals per game.

Virginia is coming off a 64-62 short-handed loss at Clemson last Thursday (Feb. 21). The Cavaliers were playing without two of their top scorers. Kelsey Wolfe (Jr., Germantown, Md.), the team’s second-leading points producer, will miss the remainder of the season after suffering an ACL injury in the Maryland game. Telia McCall (Sr., Marietta, Ga.), who is third on the team in scoring, is ranked seventh in the ACC in rebounding, averaging 8.0 boards per game. She is also ninth in the ACC in free throw shooting (79.0 percent).

Virginia snapped a streak of four straight games of scoring no more than 50 points by putting up 62 against Clemson. Ataira Franklin (Jr., Bowie, Md.) scored a third of Virginia’s point total, scoring 21 points for the second game in a row. In the last nine games (Jan. 20- Feb. 21), Franklin has eight double-digit scoring efforts, including three 20-plus point performances.

Franklin has moved up to 12th in the ACC in scoring, averaging 13.6 points per game. She is tied for sixth in the ACC in steals (2.2 per game) and ninth in three-point shooting (38.0 percent).

Faith Randolph (Fr., Derwood, Md.) got the third start of her career against Clemson, scoring a career-best 12 points. Ten of those points came in the second half, including a pair of three-pointers.

Sarah Imovbioh (So., Abuja, Nigeria) was in the starting lineup for the first time since the Dec. 6 game at Maryland. Imovbioh scored nine points with five rebounds, going 4-of-6 from the field.

Sarah Beth Barnette (R-So., Lexington, Ky.) hit two three-pointers at Clemson, the first time in her Cavalier career she connected for more than one trey in a game.On Feb. 21, the Atlantic Coast Conference office announced that Simone Egwu (Sr., Odenton, Md.) was selected as one of 41 ACC student-athletes to receive the Weaver-James-Corrigan Award. The award, commonly referred to as the “ACC Post Graduate Scholarship” is a prestigious honor presented annually to three students from each ACC-member institution. Egwu will receive a $5000 scholarship for her post-graduate studies.

After the Wake Forest game, the Cavaliers will travel to NC State to take on the Wolfpack on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. in Raleigh, N.C. Virginia closes out the regular season by hosting No. 19/20 Florida State on Sunday, March 3 at 1 p.m. The Florida State game will be broadcast on the ACC Regional Networks and will be “Senior Night” with a special pregame ceremony honoring the Cavaliers’ graduating seniors.