Virginia Hosts Florida State on Sunday in the Pink Game

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Feb. 14, 2015

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (15-9, 5-6 ACC) hosts No. 7 Florida State (22-3, 9-2 ACC) on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena in the annual Play4Kay game. The players will be wearing special pink jerseys and all fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game in support of breast cancer awareness.

The game will be televised on ACC Regional Sports Network stations with Tom Werme and Debbie Antonelli providing commentary. Live streaming video will be available online on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. The game will also be broadcast on the radio on WINA-1070 AM with John Freeman and Myron Ripley calling the action.

The Seminoles, currently tied with Duke for third place in the ACC, had a nine-game win streak snapped by a 71-63 loss at No. 17 UNC on Thursday. The Tar Heels closed out the game on a 9-0 run to pull off the upset.

Florida State is second in the nation with a +13.4 rebounding margin. The Seminoles have the second-highest scoring offense in the conference, averaging 77.4 points per game, while also having the second-lowest opponent scoring average at 57.3 points per game. FSU’s +20.1 scoring margin ranks eighth in the country. Adut Bulgak is third in the ACC in rebounding, averaging 10.6 per game. She also leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per game with 12 double-doubles this season.

Virginia has won four of the last five meetings between the two schools including an 85-68 upset win over then No. 17 FSU in January of 2014 at JPJ. Florida State won the rematch, 82-70, in last year’s regular-season finale in Tallahassee. Virginia holds a 34-14 advantage in the all-time series.

Sunday’s contest is the last of three-straight games for Virginia against top-12 opponents. UVa is 0-4 this season against ranked teams including Thursday’s 71-45 loss to No. 11 Duke. Virginia’s last win over a ranked team was the 86-72 victory over No. 6 Maryland last season at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia’s final tally of 45 points against Duke was the first time the Cavaliers have failed to score 50 points in a game since falling 49-43 to Kansas State at the Junkanoo Jam tournament in November of 2013.

Senior center Sarah Imovbioh (Abuja, Nigeria) was the only Cavalier to finish the game in double figures with 14 points and eight rebounds. Imovbioh converted her first five field goal attempts, finishing the game 6-of-10.

After the Cavaliers missed their first nine three-point attempts in the FSU game, freshman guard Mikayla Venson (Arlington, Va.) hit UVa’s first trey seven minutes into the second half. After combining to go 21-of-34 (61.7 percent) from three-point range in the victories over Clemson and NC State, UVa has gone 2-of-11 from three in each of the last two losses.

Duke outrebounded Virginia 42-25, the third-straight game in which the Cavaliers were outrebounded by double digits. In the last seven games, five opponents have grabbed 40 or more rebounds including Clemson grabbing 45, the highest by a Virginia opponent this season.

Virginia, who leads the ACC with the fewest turnovers per game (13.8), had 22 against Duke, only the third time this year the team turned the ball over more than 20 times.

Two Virginia players have a chance of becoming the 30th and 31st members of the Virginia 1,000 point club this season. Imovbioh comes into the game with 954 career points, making her 46 points shy of the milestone while junior guard Faith Randolph (Derwood, Md.) has 925 career points, needing 75. Imovbioh also has 721 career rebounds, 48 shy of moving into a tie for 10th place on the Virginia all-time rebounding list.

Virginia will travel to Pittsburgh, playing the Panthers (16-8, 6-5 ACC) on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live online on ESPN3. The Cavaliers return home on Sunday, Feb. 22, hosting Virginia Tech at 1 p.m.

Single-game ticket prices for all home 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).