The Virginia women's basketball team plays host to in-state rival Richmond at 2 p.m. Sunday in a game that will carry some extra meaning for the players.
"Any in-state game is a game we get up for," senior guard Sharneé Zoll said.
The Cavaliers (1-2) lost to the Spiders (1-2) 73-70 last season in a tight matchup in Richmond. It was a game Virginia felt it let slip away.
"We didn't play as well as we could have," Zoll said. "We played well for only three minutes and were lethargic for 37 minutes."
Virginia is coming off a 66-64 loss last night at South Carolina. Richmond is coming off of a 72-57 loss in its home opener to Fairfield Wednesday night.
For the Cavaliers, junior forward Lyndra Littles made a huge contribution upon her return to the team against George Washington Monday. Littles collected 25 points and 11 rebounds in a near upset of the No. 13 Colonials. The game Monday was Littles' first game back for the Cavaliers after sitting out the team's exhibition against Team Concept and home opener against Longwood.
It was tough "for me to watch my teammates play without me being out there," Littles said. "Having to sit and watch [is what] probably bothered me the most. But they did their thing. They went out there and got two wins."
Junior center Aisha Mohammed has also lived up to her billing thus far this season, averaging nearly a double-double at 14 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
Sophomore guard Monica Wright, last year's ACC Freshman of the Year, has helped the Cavaliers through consistent rebounding, averaging 5.5 boards a game. The sophomore, however, has yet to put up the points that she did last year.
"Monica had a tough night [against George Washington] because she got two fouls in the first half," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said.
Ryan added that the entire team was "not quite there offensively."
Richmond, which lost its first game of the season at Georgia 81-53, has received help from freshman guard Brittani Shells, who scored 13 points in the loss to Georgia. Sophomore forward Katie Holzer added 10 points for the Spiders.
Richmond won its next game, a nail-biting 61-60 victory over Kennesaw State, when Holzer sank one of two free throws with seven seconds left to clinch the win. Redshirt junior guard Johanna McKnight led the team during the game with a double-double, racking up 17 points and 11 rebounds. So far, McKnight is averaging 6.3 rebounds per game this season.
In its loss to Fairfield Wednesday, Richmond was once again led by Shells. This time the freshman put up 27 points.
The Cavaliers will need to contain Shells and look to counter the rebounding of McKnight, something Virginia struggled with against George Washington.
"We out-rebounded [the Colonials] but they got a lot of rebounds at crucial times during the game," Zoll said. "Maybe we got tired or lacked focus. We need to get rebounds at crucial points."
Pulling down important rebounds in the final minutes of the contest will likely be a deciding factor if Virginia hopes to get a win Sunday against the Spiders.
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