The Cavaliers will travel to Tallahassee, Fla., in search of their third consecutive conference win and their third road win of the season. Virginia and Florida State will tip off at 7 tonight at Leon County Civic Center.
Virginia has struggled on the road and in the ACC this season, losing its first four conference games and dropping six of its first eight on the road. The Cavaliers have had a successful week turning the tide on their season, winning two consecutive ACC games at home against Georgia Tech and Maryland, but will have to prove they can take their winning ways on the road.
"I think this team understands they're going to have to win some on the road to go someplace," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "I think we've learned a lot on the road. I think we're ready to play on the road. You can't go on the road for seven out of eight games and not learn something."
Florida State statistically is in the middle of the ACC, but will pose a difficult rebounding threat because it ranks second in the ACC in defensive rebounds, grabbing an average of more than 27 per game, while Virginia ranks last with 24.31 per game. The rise of play of six-foot-six freshman center Deidra Chatman and the return of sophomore center Lynette O'Reggio ought to help the Cavaliers manage the boards better against the Seminoles.
"When we go on the road I know we always have a chance to win because we can play defense," Ryan said. "That's one thing this team needs to understand is that they can win games as long as they play defense."
Three of the Cavaliers four conference losses came by one point including a 60-59 loss to No. 1 Duke while missing two of their leading scorers, sophomores Cherrise Graham at guard and Brandi Teamer at forward. Graham led Virginia in its win over Maryland on Sunday, scoring 25 points and totaling six rebounds and three assists.
Teamer and Graham -- who sat out of the Duke contest because of a team-imposed suspension -- have given the Cavaliers a boost in their two wins last week.
"They let the game come to them," Ryan said. "It's hard for 11 players to try to adjust to one or two players, they had to adjust to the way the team was playing and that helped a great deal."
Virginia hopes the return of another inside presence can help them take home a victory from Tallahassee.
"Lynette [O'Reggio] has been home with her grandmother and just got back" Sunday, Ryan said. O'Reggio's presence inside was sorely missed.
O'Reggio is the leading shot blocker on the team, while Teamer and Graham are the team's leading scorers.
"I want to play to win," Graham said. "Anything I had to do to help our team out, because me sitting out probably didn't help much."
Even in the two wins, Graham and Teamer have come off the bench, which may help to explain the early deficits the Cavaliers have faced as Maryland outscored Virginia 7-0 in the first two minutes, and the Yellow Jackets took an 11-6 lead seven minutes into the game.
"We've got to start games better than we have been," Ryan said. "I think we've had pockets of playing well, we have not probably come near our potential."
The Cavaliers seem to have turned a corner in their season as they've broken their ACC losing streak, it's up to Virginia now to continue that streak and break up its losing ways on the road.
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