Virginia Plays at No. 12 Florida State on Thursday

February 7, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (15-8, 8-2 ACC) will play at No. 12 Florida State (19-4, 7-3 ACC) on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla.

All of the 2017-18 Virginia women’s basketball games – home and away – are available locally on the radio on NewsRadio 1070 AM and 98.9 FM WINA. The game will also stream live online as an ACC Network Extra contest.

The Cavaliers are alone in third place in the ACC, a half-game up on NC State (8-3) and a full-game ahead of Florida State (7-3).

This will be the second-straight contest for the Cavaliers against a ranked opponent after falling 77-41 to No. 4 Louisville last Thursday (Feb.1). Louisville held a four-point lead at halftime, but outscored the Cavaliers 46-14 in the second half.

Senior guard Aliyah Huland El (Randolph, N.J.) became the 33rd member of Virginia’s 1,000 point club against Louisville, reaching the benchmark by making a free throw in the final 20 seconds of the game. Huland El has led the team or been tied for the team scoring lead in each of the last five games, averaging 15.4 points per game in that span.

Senior forward Lauren Moses (Mount Holly, N.J.) is also closing in on 1,000 career points, needing 21 to reach the milestone. She also comes into the game with 99 blocked shots in her career, poised to become the eighth player in program history to block 100 in her career.

The Cavaliers are looking for their first victory over an opponent ranked in the Associated Press top-25 this season. Virginia’s last win over a top-25 team was last year’s 60-51 victory over then-No. 4 Florida State (2/16/17). The Cavaliers defeated Syracuse this season when the Orange were ranked No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll but were just receiving votes in the AP poll.

Florida State leads the ACC in rebounding, grabbing 44.7 per game (including 16.6 offensive boards per game) and posting a +12.2 rebounding margin. The Seminoles are second in the ACC in scoring offense, averaging 82.9 points per game and 7.6 made-threes per game.

The Seminoles fell out of the top-10 of the AP Poll after dropping two of their last three games, falling 100-69 at home to Notre Dame (1/21) and suffering a 65-56 setback at NC State last Thursday (Feb. 1). Imani Wright is averaging 17.8 points per game to lead the Seminoles while Shakayla Thomas is contributing 17.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

Virginia leads the all-time series, 35-16, with a 33-14 record in regular-season ACC contests. Last season, Virginia topped Florida State 60-51 at John Paul Jones Arena. Dominique Toussaint scored five of her 14 points in the final 1:27, including the go-ahead three-pointer as the shot clock was running out, and Virginia held No. 4 Florida State to five points in the fourth quarter.

This is the first of two road contests for the Cavaliers this week as they play at Virginia Tech on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. Virginia returns home to host No. 5 Notre Dame on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena in the first of two remaining home games of the 2017-18 season.

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).