Virginia Hosts North Carolina on Thursday Night
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team (5-7, 0-1 ACC) plays its first home ACC game of the 2019-20 season when it faces North Carolina (10-2, 1-0 ACC) on Thursday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
- The game will stream as an ACCNX contest on the ESPN app and WatchESPN ACCNX streams are available through participating TV providers that carry ACCN
- All of the 2019-20 Virginia women’s basketball games – home and away – are available locally on the radio on NewsRadio 1070 AM and 98.9 FM WINA
- Live stats will also be available for the game
NOTING THE CAVALIERS
- The UNC game will be Virginia’s first game at JPJ since Dec. 1, a span of 31 days
- Senior guard Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) leads ACC in scoring at 19.3 points per game, which ranks 22nd in the nation. She is just ahead of Dana Evans of Louisville who is averaging 18.5 points per game. Willoughby has scored 20 or more points in four of the last six games
- Willoughby also ranks seventh in rebounding, averaging 8.8 per game
- Willoughby scored 19 points with 10 rebounds in the ACC opener at Georgia Tech, her sixth double-double of the season and the 20th of her career
- Those 19 points lifted Willoughby past three players on the all-time scoring list (Telisha Quarles, Val Ackerman and Monick Foote) and into the program’s top-20. She is currently at No. 18 with 1332 career points
- Willoughby has led the team in scoring in all but two games this season
- Willoughby is second in the conference in free throw shooting percentage at 88.5 percent, ranking 19th in the nation
- Senior forward Lisa Jablonowski (Ernster, Luxembourg) has put up three-straight 10 point performances. Against Georgia Tech, she also added eight rebounds and a season-high four assists
- In the last two games, Jablonowski is 8-of-11 from the field (72.7 percent). She had the Cavaliers’ top shooting performance of the season in the opener against Bucknell, going 7-of-8 from the field in the game
- Freshman guard Shemera Williams (Milwaukee, Wisc.) leads the team in shooting efficiency. In her four games this season, Williams is 13-of-25 overall from the field (52.0 percent) and 4-of-8 from three-point range
- Junior forward Tihana Stojsavljevic (Zagreb, Croatia) made her Virginia debut at Georgia Tech, grabbing three rebounds in eight minutes on the court
- Virginia shot 50.0 percent from three-point range against Georgia Tech (5-of-10). It was the third time this season the team shot 50 percent or better in a game. The Cavaliers rank fifth in the ACC in long-range shooting, making 34.2 percent of their attempts
- Virginia as a team is second in the conference in free throw shooting, making 73.2 percent of its attempts
- The Cavaliers played the toughest schedule in the nation during non-conference play and still holds the No. 1 on the NCAA’s toughest schedule rankings
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
- North Carolina opened conference play on Monday with a 70-62 victory over Pitt
- UNC leads the ACC in scoring offense (79.8 points per game) and assist/turnover ratio (1.30) while ranking in the top-three in rebounding (45.2 per game), scoring margin (+22.3), three-point shooting (36.9 percent), turnover margin (+3.58) and rebounding (45.2 per game)
- All five UNC starters are averaging in double figures, led by Janelle Bailey with 15.3 points per game. She’s also the rebounding leader with 10.6 per game
- Courtney Banghart is in her first season at UNC, the first new face in the position since 1986. She came to Chapel Hill after 12 years as the head coach at Princeton, where her teams won seven Ivy League crowns and made eight NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2015 she was named to Fortune’s list of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. Others on the list that year: Pope Francis, Bill and Melinda Gates, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., LeBron James, Elon Musk and Taylor Swift. Another fun fact: she has a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Dartmouth
- North Carolina leads the all-time series 52-34
- Virginia has won the last two meetings in Charlottesville, a 72-68 game in 2015 and an 82-70 victory in 2018. UNC won last year’s meeting in Chapel Hill, 70-53
JAN. 2 GAME PROMOTION
- Thursday’s game is Star Wars Night. Fans attending the game will receive a free orange glow stick (while supplies last)
- Fans are invited to wear Star Wars costumes to the game and tweet a photo of themselves to @UVAWomensHoops during the first half. A winner will be chosen and announced during the second half. Star Wars themed games and trivia will also take place during the game
ON THE HORIZON
- Virginia heads out on the road to play at No. 9 NC State (12-0) on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Regional Sports Networks
- The Cavaliers will be back in action at JPJ on Thursday, Jan. 9, hosting Duke (7-5). The game will be televised on the ACC Network
TICKET INFORMATION
- Reserved single-game tickets are $8 if purchased in advance or online and $10 if purchased at the JPJ Box Office. General admission tickets are $5 if purchased in advance or online and $8 if purchased at the JPJ Box Office. Single-game courtside tickets may be purchased for $15
- For more information or to purchase tickets, fans should contact the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-542-UVA1 (8821). Fans can also purchase tickets online at VirginiaSports.com or in-person at the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium