Virginia Plays at No. 8 Notre Dame on Sunday

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Jan. 28, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (14-6, 3-4 ACC) plays at No. 8 Notre Dame (19-3, 7-1 ACC) on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 12 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion in Notre Dame, Ind.

The game will be televised on ESPNU. All of the 2016-17 Virginia women’s basketball games – home and away – are available locally on the radio on NewsRadio 1070 AM and 98.9 FM WINA with Luke Neer calling Sunday’s game.

Virginia is coming off a 76-27 victory over No. 19 Virginia Tech on Thursday. The Cavaliers limited the Hokies to scoring single-digit points in each of the final three quarters including the third quarter when Virginia Tech scored two points on 1-of-15 shooting (6.7 percent). It was the third time this season UVA held a team to two points in a quarter. Virginia has won three of its last four games, holding opponents to an average of 45.3 points per game in that span.

The 49-point margin of victory against the Hokies matches the second-largest for the Cavaliers in an ACC game in program history, topped only by a 57-point victory over Wake Forest on Jan. 5, 1995, and was the largest ever for the Cavaliers when upsetting an opponent ranked higher than themselves.

The 27 points scored by Virginia Tech were the fewest by a Cavalier opponent since UVA held Norfolk State to 23 points on Dec. 28, 2012. It was the third time this season UVA held an opponent to under 40 points, after limiting Clemson to 37 and UIC to 39.

The Cavaliers lead the ACC and are ranked in the top-10 in the nation in three defensive statistical categories: scoring defense, holding opponents to 52.0 points per game (fourth in the nation), opponent three-point percentage (24.9 percent, third in the nation) and opponent field goal percentage (33.8 percent, seventh in the nation).

Offensively against the Hokies, UVA was led by freshman guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) who scored 18 points by going 6-of-8 from the field and 6-of-7 from the stripe.

Senior guard Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) scored 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Mason is 14-of-15 from the free throw line in the last four games with 11 consecutive makes. Mason is 8-of-15 from three in ACC games this season (53.3 percent). She is shooting 43.1 percent overall from three-point range, ranking second in the ACC.

The Fighting Irish lead the all-time series 3-2 and are 3-0 in ACC contests. Last season, the Cavaliers fell 74-46 to the Irish at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Irish lead the ACC and are ranked fifth in the nation with a 48.7 percent field goal shooting percentage. The Irish lead the ACC and are ranked fifth in the nation with a 39.2 percent three-point shooting percentage. Lindsay Allen leads the ACC and is third in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.69). Brianna Turner is 10th in the ACC in scoring, averaging 15.2 points per game. Arike Ogunbowale is 11th at 14.4 points per game. Turner is second in the ACC in blocked shots per game (2.3) and leads in overall blocked shots with 50.

Virginia will be back at home for back-to-back games against Georgia Tech (Feb. 2) and No. 14 Duke (Feb. 5) at John Paul Jones Arena.

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).