The Virginia women’s basketball team will continue its up-and-down season tonight, taking on No. 22 Florida State in John Paul Jones Arena at 7. The Cavaliers are 2-2 against ranked opponents this season.
Thus far this season, Virginia’s only ACC loss was delivered by No. 2 North Carolina in a 103-74 embarrassment last week. The Cavaliers, however, managed to rebound from the defeat with a 6-point victory Wednesday against Virginia Tech.
Free throws played an important role in both the North Carolina and Virginia Tech contests and could continue to do so in future conference matchups. Against the Tar Heels, Virginia went 1-8 from the charity stripe in the first half and entered the break down by 9 points.
“This whole week we focused on free throws because obviously, in the last game against UNC, we went 1-8 to start the half,” senior forward Lyndra Littles said. “So Coach [Debbie] Ryan threw a few little schemes in there to hit free throws.”
Against the Hokies, the Cavaliers managed to reverse their fortunes from the line, as Littles made all eight of her final free throws to secure the team’s victory. Since returning to Virginia’s active lineup, Littles has averaged 20.2 points and 6.6 rebounds while picking up 15 steals in just four starts.
The matchup against Virginia Tech also saw excellent defensive play from sophomore forward Kelly Hartig, who racked up two blocks and four steals in the contest. A starter in all of the Cavaliers’ 18 games, the sophomore has tallied 11 blocks and nine steals on the season.
As Virginia gears up to face Florida State, however, it will need strong play from all positions and all aspects of the game if it wishes to combat the experience and all-around strength of the Seminoles, who return six upperclassmen from last year’s roster.
In its most recent home matchup against conference foe Georgia Tech, Florida State was impressive on the defensive end of the floor. Seminole junior forward Jacinta Monroe garnered ACC Player of the Week honors by blocking nine shots in the game, a school record. Florida State has been strong off the glass all year, out-rebounding its opponents an average of 42.8 to 34.2 a game, and against the Yellow Jackets, the Seminoles also managed to force 27 turnovers.
The team has put together a seven-game win streak and possesses an unblemished conference record of 4-0.
“I think Florida State’s an excellent basketball team,” Ryan said. “They’re very, very athletic, they have a lot of players back, and they have a great inside-outside combination. They’re going to be very tough.”
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