Virginia Women's Basketball Opens 2014-15 Season By Hosting Ohio State Friday Night

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Nov. 13, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team will open the 2014-15 season hosting Ohio State on Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.

The game will be broadcast on the radio on WINA-1070 AM with Channing Poole and Myron Ripley calling the action.

Virginia finished last season with a 14-17 record and a 6-10 mark in the ACC. Ohio State went 17-18 with a 5-11 record in the Big Ten.

Virginia has won eight of its last nine season-openers, but fell 63-46 last season at James Madison. Virginia has won its last 14 home openers, including a 73-54 victory over High Point last season, and has never lost a home opener at John Paul Jones Arena.

This is the first meeting between these two teams since 2010 when the Buckeyes recorded a 74-46 victory in an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game in Columbus, Ohio. Virginia has only defeated Ohio State once in six meetings, a 68-65 victory in Charlottesville in 1994.

It will be an almost entirely new lineup on the court for the Cavaliers. Senior center Sarah Imovbioh (Abuja, Nigeria) is the only player who will be in the opening day lineup who started more than half of the games last season, starting 30 of 31 games, averaging 12.3 points per game. Imovbioh was ranked sixth in the ACC in rebounding last year, averaging 8.2 per contest while pacing the conference with 4.0 offensive rebounds per game.

Junior guard Faith Randolph (Derwood, Md.), the 2014 ACC Sixth Player of the Year, will be making just the 12th start of her career and her first since Dec. 28, 2013 against Coppin State. Randolph has averaged 21.8 minutes per game in her career, but only made seven starts as a freshman and four last season. Randolph averaged 11.8 points per game last season, ranking third on the team, with five games in which she scored 20 or more points.

Sophomore guard Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) started the final 14 games last season and should be in the opening day lineup. Mason averaged 3.5 points per game overall last season, but finished strong, averaging 6.8 ppg in the final eight contests, including scoring 12 points in the final home game of the year against Miami.

Virginia has had at least one player make their collegiate debut as a member of the starting lineup each of the last two years. As a freshman in 2013, forward Sydney Umeri (Acworth, Ga.) earned a spot in the opening game starting lineup. In 2012, Imovbioh was in the starting lineup against James Madison, scoring 21 points in her collegiate debut.

The Buckeyes, who have been hampered by preseason injuries, have seven players available for Friday’s opener. Despite the limited squad size, Ohio State logged a 92-73 victory over NCAA Division II Eckerd, 92-73. Freshman Kelsey Mitchell and junior Cait Craft each finished with 19 points. Mitchell led the team with six assists and also had four steal. Craft was efficient from the floor, shooting 6-of-8 including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

Virginia closes out the opening homestand on Sunday, Nov. 16 when it hosts Radford at 1 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.

Single-game ticket prices for all games are $10 for Reserved seating, $8 for adult General Admission and $6 for youth (18 & under), senior (60 & over) and UVa faculty/staff General Admission. Fans may purchase home game tickets through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office online at VirginiaSports.com, by phone and in person. The Virginia Athletics Ticket Office is located in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium and open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Telephone purchases can be made by calling 1-800-542-UVA1 (8821) or locally at 434-924-UVA1 (8821).