Debbie Ryan's squad has not started a season 0-3 at home in ACC play in over ten years. On Sunday, the Cavaliers will host Florida State in an attempt to extend this streak.
The theme of the day Sunday will be revenge.
The Cavaliers' lone road loss of the season came at the hands of Florida State Jan. 8, by a score of 60-46. It was Virginia's first ACC game of the season, and the Cavaliers came out flat, tallying only 13 first-half points.
"Florida State really came to play and made a lot of their shots," assistant coach Curtis Loyd said. "We shot horribly that game, and, when you're 0-10 from the three-point line, it doesn't help at all."
Virginia would finish connecting on only 24 percent of its shots for the night. The abysmal shooting combined with 22 turnovers to only six assists is something the Cavaliers will look to turn around Sunday.
"[We need to] take care of the ball," Loyd said. "There was nothing that they did that really forced us into turnovers. We just have to do a better job of executing and knowing where we get our shots from and who's taking those shots."
In character, Virginia did outrebound FSU 53-47 and was successful in containing the Seminoles' frontcourt. Florida State's two talented guards, Alicia Gladden and Ganiyat Adeduntan, however, each had monster games. The two dropped 22 points and 12 points, respectively.
"We need to play [Gladden] more [intensely] and make her work a lot more for her shots," Loyd said. "We're going to put somebody on her who's going to make her work for her shots."
Depending on how Florida State comes out to start the game, either Takisha Granberry or Tiffany Sardin will likely be matched up against Gladden.
With their current record, the Cavaliers need to start moving up the ladder in the conference to improve their ACC Tournament seed as well as their chances at an NCAA Tournament bid.
"Our goal is to be in that top-half of the ACC, and we didn't play well [against Florida State], and, now, this is a must-win for us. And being at home, it [gives] it a little bit more of a sense of urgency."
One thing that the team is confident about is how much they have grown since the loss at the beginning of the month.
"Through the wins and, especially, the losses, we've learned to come together," Siedah Williams said. "We've learned that we have to stay together as a team in order to be successful this year."
As far as gameplay goes, this game will likely be decided down low. Florida State, which is 2-3 in the ACC, is not a particularly good three-point shooting team. The 'Noles have only made 30 percent of their attempts, which places them second-to-last in the conference in that statistic. Only Virginia has a worse mark from beyond the arch.
The keys for Virginia will be to minimize its turnovers, maintain its rebounding advantage, have better shot selection and neutralize Gladden.
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