Virginia Plays at Clemson on Thursday

Story Links

Jan. 18, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (12-5, 1-3 ACC) plays at Clemson (11-7, 0-5 ACC) on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C. All of the 2016-17 Virginia women’s basketball games – home and away – are available locally on NewsRadio 1070 AM and 98.9 FM WINA with Channing Poole providing the play-by-play. The game will also stream live online as an ACC Network Extra contest.

Virginia is coming off a 62-55 victory over Boston College on Sunday, a win that snapped a three-game slide to open conference play. The Cavaliers committed a season-low eight turnovers against BC while forcing 22 BC turnovers. The BC game was the ninth time this season UVA forced 20 or more turnovers in a game.

Junior Aliyah Huland El (Randolph, N.J.) made her first five field goal attempts against BC, scoring 12 points in the first 16 minutes of the game. She finished the game 5-of-6 shooting. Huland El is shooting 61.8 percent in ACC games (21-of-34), ranking fifth. Huland El has scored in double figures in each of the last three games, averaging 16.0 points per game in that span.

Senior guard Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) scored a season-high 19 points against BC, nine of which were scored in the fourth quarter. Mason has scored in double-digits in each of the last three games, averaging 15.3 points in that span. She averaged 4.7 points per game in the previous four games. Mason is also closing in on becoming the 32nd player in program history to join the 1,000 point club. Mason comes into the Clemson game with 908 career points.

Freshman guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) leads the team in rebounding at 6.3 per game, which ranks second among all ACC freshmen. Willoughby has had the team-high rebounds in four of the last five games and is averaging 8.0 rebounds per game in ACC contests, which is tied for seventh in the conference.

The Cavaliers continue to lead the ACC in scoring defense, holding opponents to 53.8 points per game, which ranks 11th in the nation. UVA also leads the ACC in opponent field goal percentage (34.5 percent, 14th in the nation) and opponent three-point percentage (26.0 percent, 11th in the nation).

Virginia leads the all-time series against Clemson, 41-30, and has a 37-25 advantage in ACC contests. The Cavaliers have won five of the last six meetings and 12 of the last 14. Clemson’s last win against Virginia was a 64-62 victory at Littlejohn in 2013. Last season, UVA picked up a 65-48 victory at JPJ.

The Tigers are coming off an 86-27 loss to No. 7 Florida State to drop them to 0-5 in conference play. Clemson has three players averaging double-digits, with Nelly Perry leading the team, averaging 14.5 points per game, ranking 11th in the ACC. Aliyah Collier is averaging 10.1 points per game and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game, which ranks ninth in the ACC. Clemson is last in the ACC in shooting percentage (38.8 percent) and second-to-last in made threes per game (4.6).

The staffs of both Clemson and Virginia will coach in bare feet on Thursday to raise awareness for Samaritan’s Feet, an organization that provides shoes to children in need.

Virginia plays at Pittsburgh on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 12:30 p.m. before returning to John Paul Jones Arena on Thursday, Jan. 26 to host Virginia Tech with that game tipping off at 7 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).