Virginia Hosts Georgia Tech on Thursday

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February 2, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (14-7, 3-5 ACC) takes on Georgia Tech (13-8, 2-6 ACC) on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.

The game will be televised on the ACC Regional Sports Networks with Tom Werme and Chelsea Shine Wilson calling the game. 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 Channing Poole providing the play-by-play.

Virginia leads the ACC in scoring defense and ranks seventh in the nation, allowing 53.4 points per game. Virginia also ranks in the top-10 in the nation in two other defensive categories: opponent field goal shooting (34.5 percent, 10th in the NCAA) and opponent three-point shooting (26.0 percent, ninth in the NCAA). The Cavaliers rank second in the ACC in both statistics.

The Cavaliers are coming off an 82-74 loss at No. 8 Notre Dame on Sunday. The Cavaliers trailed by eight at halftime, 44-36, and tied the game at 44-44 with 7:05 remaining in the third period on a three from freshman guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.). Notre Dame built up an 11-point lead, 61-50, with 1:02 remaining in the 3rd, but the Cavaliers rallied to tie the game 63-63 on a three-pointer from senior guard Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) with 6:57 remaining in the game. UVA missed eight straight field goals while the Irish scored the next nine points to again go up by nine. Virginia trailed by four, 75-71, with 41 seconds remaining, but the Irish went 7-of-8 from the line to close out the game.

Willoughby led the Cavaliers in scoring (18 points) and rebounding (nine) against the Irish. It was the second time this season she had the team high points and rebounds after also doing so at Georgia. Willoughby also had four assists and four steals at Notre Dame. Willoughby, who also led the Cavaliers in scoring in Thursday’s 76-27 victory over No. 19 Virginia Tech, was named this week’s ACC Rookie of the Week. It was the first ACC Player or Rookie of the Week honor for the Cavaliers since Faith Randolph was named the Player of the Week last season on Dec. 28.

Thursday’s game will feature the top-three freshmen in the ACC in scoring with Georgia Tech’s Francesca Pan leading the way at 10.4 points per game followed by Willoughby at 10.1 and Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.J.) with 9.3. Willoughby is also second in rebounding at 6.3 per game. Willoughby and Toussaint are also second and third among first-years in steals per game at 1.62 and 1.50.

Virginia leads the all-time series 54-16 and is 45-14 in ACC games. Georgia Tech has won three of the last four meetings, but the Cavaliers picked up a 78-67 victory last year in Atlanta. Georgia Tech led 37-34 at halftime, but UVA outscored the Yellow Jackets 24-14 in the fourth quarter to pick up the victory. Mason scored a season-high 21 points, going 10-of-14 from the field, with four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot. The Yellow Jackets have dropped their last four games including an overtime loss at Wake Forest and a 62-61 game at Clemson on Sunday. Georgia Tech has three players averaging double figures, led by Kaylan Pugh at 11.8 per game. Zaire O’Neil is averaging 11.6 while Francesca Pan scores 10.4 per game. Pugh leads the defensive efforts with 5.6 rebounds per game.

Virginia closes out the current homestand by hosting No. 15 Duke on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 1 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena. Sunday’s game will be the annual celebration of National Girl’s and Women in Sports Day, an event which brings attention to the achievements of female athletes and to issues facing girls and women in sport co-sponsored by the University of Virginia Athletics Department and the Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center at UVA. Two-time Olympic Medalist and current Virginia swimmer Leah Smith will be honored in a halftime ceremony and will also sign autographs after the game. The game will also feature a pregame sports festival held in the east end, upper-level concourse of John Paul Jones Arena. The festival will include eight sports stations for youth to visit, including volleyball, lacrosse, field hockey, softball, rowing, golf, basketball and football. The festival will take place from 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Youth completing all six stations will receive a complimentary t-shirt. Admission to the festival is free with a game ticket.

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).