The Virginia women’s basketball team will commence a two-game road swing tonight when it travels to College Park, Md. to take on the Terrapins in a pivotal ACC showdown. The matchup poses the No. 15 Cavaliers (19-5, 5-3 ACC) with their most daunting challenge of the season thus far, considering No. 9 Maryland (19-4, 7-2 ACC) was 19-0 at home last year and has won the past six at home against Virginia.
Maryland, the second highest scoring team in the ACC (78 points per game), enters tonight’s game with a balanced scoring attack, possessing four players averaging double-figures this season. In its last meeting with Virginia, Maryland had four players score 13 or more points. Senior point guard Kristi Toliver, the preseason ACC player of the year, leads the Terrapin offensive charge, ranking third in the league in scoring (17.3 points per game), first in assists (5.4) and first in three-pointers made (59).
While Maryland has a firm grip on its point guard position with Toliver at the helm, Virginia continues to struggle with consistency at the point. Virginia coach Debbie Ryan does not appear to have any qualms with sticking with senior guard Britnee Millner as her starting point guard, despite Millner’s apparent struggles of late. She scored just seven points in her last five games combined, and went scoreless against Duke and Virginia Tech. She also committed more turnovers than assists in those two games, leaving many to wonder how she will match up with the likes of Toliver.
On the offensive end, senior center Aisha Mohammed will be crucial to the Cavaliers’ attack; in the first game against Maryland, the senior put up an impressive 19 points and 16 rebounds. Mohammed, the ACC’s leading rebounder with 9.6 boards per game, must once again fend off an intimidating Maryland frontcourt; the Terrapins are led by junior forward Demauria Liles, who is averaging more than 10 rebounds per ACC contest, and 6-foot-4 freshman center Lynetta Kizer, who is eighth in the NCAA among freshmen rebounders (7.7 per game).
In the Cavaliers’ last meeting with Maryland, Mohammed was instrumental in holding Liles and Kizer to just 12 rebounds total. That game was Maryland’s most recent loss before it began its current three-game winning streak, rattling off victories against Boston College, N.C. State and Florida State.
The upset was a landmark victory for the Cavaliers, though it relied entirely on junior guard Monica Wright (21.8 points per game), senior guard Lyndra Littles (21.6 points per game) and Mohammed (12.7 points per game). In that game, Wright, Littles and Mohammed combined for 77 of the team’s 89 points. To help Virginia’s chances at defeating Maryland once again, the Cavaliers may need to learn to rely less on the trio and look to other players, such as freshman guard Ariana Moorer (6.5 points per game), freshman forward Chelsea Shine (6.3 points per game) and senior guard Kristen London (2.2 points per game) — particularly if the Cavaliers wish to advance deep into the upcoming postseason.
“Some players do have to step up offensively,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. “We have to get more from Kelly Hartig, we have to get from Britnee Millner, we have to get [more] from maybe Ariana Moorer…or Kristin London. But you are going to get so much from them offensively, but you can always get defense from them. And that’s what we are not getting.”
Defensively, it will be interesting to see if the Cavaliers stick with the 2-3 zone that paid tremendous dividends Sunday against Virginia Tech. Down 15 points early in the first half, Virginia switched from man-to-man to zone, smothering the Virginia Tech offense and allowing the Cavaliers to surge ahead and take the lead by halftime.
“We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do, and once we [switched to zone] everything clicked,” Wright said. “We’ve got to learn how to start games out better than that.”
Ryan, however, has always been faithful to the man-to-man defense and remains adamant about sticking to her guns.
“I’m not much of a zone coach,” Ryan said. “We’ll go back to man-to-man very quickly.”
To complete the season sweep of the Terrapins, Virginia will need to find a way, whether it be zone or man-to-man defense, to contain Maryland’s lethal three-point shooting. The Terrapins are arguably one of the best outside-shooting teams in the country, boasting an impressive, ACC-leading three-point field goal percentage of 43.2.
Following tonight’s game against Maryland, Virginia will head to Raleigh Sunday to face N.C. State, a team the Cavaliers have yet to face this season. In the wake of coach Kay Yow’s recent death, the Wolfpack has struggled to keep its emotionally-draining season afloat and now sits in 11th place in the conference standings. The team is last in the league in scoring (60.7), although three players are averaging double figures this season. The entire team, however, is still strong defensively, ranking fourth in the ACC in scoring defense and holding opponents to less than 60 points per game. The team’s hard-nosed defensive mindset mixes naturally with a methodical, slow-tempo style on the offensive end of the court.
The Wolfpack’s greatest weakness lies in its frontcourt — something that players such as Mohammed and Kelly Hartig should attempt to exploit in Sunday’s conference matchup. N.C. State’s softness in the post is exemplified best by 6-foot-5 junior center Inga Muciniece, who has committed just 10 fouls all season.
With the game against the Terrapins looming largest on the horizon, however, the Cavaliers cannot yet afford to look ahead to the Wolfpack. Tonight, Virginia will look to defeat a top-10 team for the third time this season and improve its road record to 7-3 overall.
Read More
Mel Josephson and women’s lacrosse prepare to take center stage
By Xander Tilock | 1 hours agoJosephson's ability to perform throughout a game's biggest moments is crucial for the Cavaliers.
Virginia schools can pay players through NIL, but the University should proceed with caution
By Emory Huffman | YesterdayGiven the unique academic and athletic opportunities Virginia is able to offer its athletes, it is not shocking that Virginia has been resistant to extravagant, NIL-induced changes.
Record-setting weekend for Virginia track and field at Penn Relays and Virginia High Performance
By Tanmayi Patil | YesterdayThe Cavaliers took down records across two events over the weekend.
