Virginia Plays WNIT First-Round Game Friday at Saint Joseph's

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March 16, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (19-12) will play at Saint Joseph’s (17-14) on Friday, March 17 at 7 p.m. in the first round of the 2017 Women’s National Invitation Tournament at Hagan Arena in Philadelphia, Pa.

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 providing the play-by-play. The game will also stream live online on SJUHawks.com.

Virginia is making its third-straight and eighth overall appearance in the WNIT. The Cavaliers earned the ACC’s automatic bid and are one of four teams from the conference playing in the tournament. Saint Joseph’s earned an at-large bid and is one of five Atlantic-10 teams playing in the tournament.

This is the first meeting between the two teams since 2006 when they faced off in the first round of the WNIT with UVA picking up a 48-42 victory. The all-time series between the two is tied 4-4.

The winner of this game will advance to the second round to face the winner of JMU and Radford.

The Cavaliers, who are receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches’ poll, are second in the ACC and 18th in the nation in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 55.7 points per game. UVA is second in the ACC and 26th in the nation in field goal shooting defense with opponents making 36.1 percent of their attempts, and leads the ACC and is third in the country in three-point shooting defense with opponents making just 26.1 percent of their attempts from long range.

Senior guard Breyana Mason (Woodbridge, Va.) took over the team lead in scoring in the final week of the regular season. She is the only Cavalier currently averaging double-digit points at 10.1 per game. Mason averaged 9.0 points per game through the end of the non-conference schedule, ranking fourth on the team in scoring. She averaged a team-best 11.0 points per game against ACC opponents.

Freshman guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) averaged 13.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in the ACC Tournament and has scored in double figures in three of the last five games. Willoughby was voted to both the ACC All-Freshman and All-Academic teams.

Picked to finish eighth in the Atlantic 10, Saint Joseph’s ended the regular season strongly, going 12-4 in conference play and finishing third in the standings. Despite falling to Duquesne in the semifinals of the A-10 Championship, the Hawks won eight of their last 10 games, and enter Thursday’s game with a 17-14 overall record.

Junior Chelsea Woods was named the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Sixth Woman of the Year and named to the A-10 All-Conference Second Team, while Adashia Franklyn earned A-10 All-Conference Third Team honors. Woods leads the Hawks in scoring (14.0 ppg), assists (67) and steals (37), and ranks second on the team in rebounding (7.0 rpg). Franklyn leads the Hawks in rebounding (8.0).

Tickets will be available at the SJU box office the day of the game. Tickets will cost $10 for adults, $5 for students and $2 for groups.

Second round games will be held March 18-21. The third round is slated for March 22-24 with quarterfinals running March 25-27, and semifinals March 29-30. The WNIT Championship Game will be played at 3 p.m. on April 1 and be televised by the CBS Sports Network.