Virginia Plays at the FGCU Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites Classic
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| FGCU Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites Classic Tournament, Fort Myers, Fla. |
Date and Time Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, 4:30 p.m. : Virginia (4-5) vs Tulane (5-3)
Saturday, Dec. 21, 7 p.m.: Virginia (4-5) vs. Florida Gulf Coast (5-4) Location Fort Myers, Fla. | Alico Arena
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Dec. 19, 2013
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (4-5) finishes off a three-game week by playing back-to-back games at the FGCU Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites Classic in Fort Myers, Fla. The Cavaliers open the tournament on Friday, Dec. 20, taking on Tulane (5-3) at 4:30 p.m. followed by a game against host-school Florida Gulf Coast (5-4) on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m.
Saturday’s game will be streamed live online on ESPN3. Both Friday and Saturday’s games will be aired live on the radio on WINA 1070-AM.
This will be the second-ever meeting between Tulane and Virginia. The Green Wave defeated the Cavaliers, 74-63 on Dec. 29. 2001 in New Orleans. This will be the first-ever meeting between FGCU and UVa.
Virginia defeated Maryland Eastern Shore 81-46 on Tuesday night, the Cavaliers first game after taking a 12-day break for finals. Three Cavaliers set new career highs in the contest. Sophomore guard Faith Randolph (Derwood, Md.) scored a career-best 22 points in the game. Randolph made a career-high four three pointers, on six attempts, shooting 9-of-14 overall in the game. Randolph also had five assists, with just one turnover, and three steals against the Hawks.
Redshirt senior guard Lexie Gerson (Fort Washington, Pa.) pulled in a career-high 10 rebounds against UMES, coming up one point shy of notching her first career double-double as she scored nine points. Gerson has moved up to seventh in the ACC in steals, averaging 2.4 per game.
Freshman guard Tiffany Suarez (Miami, Fla.), who came into the UMES game having scored three points this season, scored eight points, playing a career-best 22 minutes in the contest. Suarez, who had played a combined seven minutes in the first seven games of the season, has averaged 20.5 minutes in each of the last two games.
In the UMES game, senior guard Ataira Franklin (Bowie, Md.) passed former teammate Ariana Moorer (2008-12) to move into 19th on the career points list. With 1,298 career points, Franklin needs 17 points to tie Monik Foote (1995-99) for 18th on the list.
Junior center Sarah Imovbioh (Abuja, Nigeria) is 10th in the ACC in rebounds per game at 8.0. Imovbioh continues to lead conference in offensive rebounds, averaging 4.3 per game. Imovbioh went 3-for-3 from the field against UMES. She is shooting 52.9 percent from the field. Imovbioh led the ACC in shooting percentage last season. She is currently ranked 13th.
After going a combined 3-of-30 from three-point range in the previous two games, Virginia made 7-of-24 attempts against UMES.
The Cavaliers had 22 steals against UMES, the most steals in a game since having 22 against Green Bay in 2010.
Virginia forced Maryland Eastern Shore to turn the ball over 35 times, the second time this season that UVa forced 30 or more turnovers in a game. The Cavaliers caused 30 Liberty turnovers. Seven Virginia players had two or more steals against UMES, including Franklin who had four steals.
Virginia has turned the ball over fewer times than its opponent in six of the last seven games, including UVa committing a season-low nine turnovers in the Michigan game. Virginia is third in the ACC with a +5.7 turnover margin.
After a short break for Christmas, the Cavaliers will return to action when they host the Holiday Inn University Area Cavalier Classic, featuring Coppin State, Alabama and Princeton, Dec. 28-29 at John Paul Jones Arena.