Virginia Takes on Miami in ACC Tournament Second Round

Story Links

March 4, 2015

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –The ninth-seeded Virginia women’s basketball team (17-12, 7-9 ACC) takes on eighth-seeded Miami (18-11, 8-8 ACC) in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday, March 5 at 2 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The game will be televised live on the ACC Regional Sports Networks with Mike Hogewood on play-by-play and LaChina Robinson providing analysis. 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 Jay James calling the action.

The winner will advance to face top-seeded Notre Dame (28-2, 15-1 ACC) on Friday, March 6 at 2 p.m. in the ACC Quarterfinals.

The hot-shooting Cavaliers closed out the regular season with a 75-59 upset-victory over No. 8 Louisville. The Cavaliers shot 51.2 percent (21-of-41) against the Cardinals, the third-straight game in which they shot 50 percent or better. In the last three games, the team is a combined 71-of-140 (50.7 percent). The Cavaliers were also hot from three-point range, going 6-of-8 (75.0 percent), the third time this season they shot 70 percent or better from long range.

Senior center Sarah Imovbioh (Abuja, Nigeria) was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field en route to tallying 22 points, her fifth 20-point game of the season. Imovbioh also moved back into the lead for the conference’s rebounding title after grabbing 17 rebounds, her seventh game of 15 or more rebounds. It was also the third time this season that she had a combination of 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Faith Randolph (Derwood, Md.) followed up her 24-point performance at UNC on Thursday by scoring 23 points against Louisville. Randolph, who earned her first ACC Player of the Week honor on Monday and was named to the All-ACC Second Team on Tuesday, scored 14 baskets with 13 assists in last week’s games.

Randolph, who leads the ACC in free throw percentage, went 9-of-9 from the free throw line against the Cardinals. In ACC games this season, she only missed four free throws, going 38-of-42 (90.5 percent).

Imovbioh’s layup with 4:06 remaining in the first half of the Louisville game was the 1,000th point of her career. She is the 30th player in program history to join the 1,000-Point Club. Imovbioh also moved into Virginia’s top-10 for career rebounds in the Louisville game. Her 17 rebounds gave her 777 in her career, moving her into ninth place on the Virginia all-time rebounding list, passing Monica Wright (2007-10 – 764 rebounds) and Dawn Staley (1989-92 – 772 rebounds).

Randolph entered the Louisville game needing 27 points to also join the 1,000-point club. She came up four points shy of reaching the mark in the same game as Imovbioh. She enters the ACC Tournament with 996 career points and will become the 31st member of UVa’s 1,000-point club when she reaches the milestone.

Mikayla Venson (Arlington, Va.) was named to the Blue Ribbon Panel ACC All-Freshman team on Tuesday, the 13th Cavalier to be named to the All-Freshman team. The last two Virginia players to earn the honor were Ataira Franklin (2011) and Monica Wright (2007). Venson hit her 56th three-pointer of the season vs. Louisville, which ranks 10th on the Virginia single-season made-three-pointer tally. Venson needs one three-pointer to tie the Virginia freshman record of made-threes in a season, set by Tora Suber in 1994.

This is the second time that Virginia has been the No. 9 seed in the tournament. In 2006, the Cavaliers defeated 8-seed Boston College, 83-72, before falling to No. 1 UNC 82-56. Last season, Virginia was the 10-seed, defeating Boston College, 74-59, before falling 77-76, in a heartbreaker against No. 7 Georgia Tech. Sarah Imovbioh scored a career-high 27 points, with 20 of those coming in the second half. Virginia’s last advanced to the quarterfinals in 2012 after defeating Boston College, 72-41, in the first round. This will be the first-ever meeting between Miami and Virginia in the ACC Tournament.

Virginia holds an 8-6 edge in the all-time series, but Miami is 5-1 in the last six meetings, including this year’s 67-58 game on Jan. 21 in Coral Gables. Virginia held a 27-25 advantage at halftime, but the Hurricanes outscored the Cavaliers 42-31 in the second half. The Cavaliers had four players finish the game in double-digits, with Randolph and Imovbioh each scoring 14 points and sophomore Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) and Venson each contributing 11 points.

The 2015 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 4-8 at the Greensboro Coliseum. Ticket books, which include tickets for all 14 games of the five-day tournament, will remain at last year’s price – $99 each. This is the 16th consecutive year the Coliseum has played host to the event, the most of any venue.