The Virginia women's basketball team faces No. 15 North Carolina in Chapel Hill tonight looking to build off one of its best performances of the season, a 72-37 home victory against Virginia Tech last Sunday. The Cavaliers (12-9, 1-4 ACC) are currently tied for second-to-last in the ACC standings and must win the majority of their nine remaining regular season games to improve their NCAA Tournament chances in a year in which John Paul Jones Arena hosts a tournament regional.
"The team is coming together, and we're ready to win and work hard in order to get into the NCAA Tournament," junior guard Whitny Edwards said. "We know that we have to work as a team - all five players on the floor and our entire bench - in order to win."
In an effort to make the tournament, the team is approaching the remainder of the season with urgency. Aware that unforced turnovers in offensive sets played a large role in an abysmal start to conference play, Virginia coach Debbie Ryan challenged her team to improve its ball-handling skills during the past week by carrying around and gripping a basketball outside of practice.
"We know that committing turnovers has been a problem, especially since it's been on offensive possessions and not the fast break," Edwards said. "The team's pointed this out as a problem."
A more pressing concern against the Tar Heels (17-3, 3-2 ACC) may be to control the pace of the game. North Carolina leads the ACC in scoring offense with 82.3 points per game - 15.4 more than Virginia. The Cavaliers may have caught a break, however, as Carolina senior forward Jessica Breland - who ranks second on the team in scoring with 12.6 points per game - may not play in tonight's game because of an injury to her left knee.. But Carolina will be eager to reverse the course after suffering a 88-65 blowout loss at Maryland last weekend.
"[North Carolina] is a big team, but they really like to run a bit, so it's going to be different from the game we had [against Maryland and Virginia Tech]," Ryan said.
Without Breland, Carolina will look to senior guard Italee Lucas, who leads the team with 18 points per game.
On defense, meanwhile, the Tar Heels will have to focus their efforts on junior forward Chelsea Shine, who is the only Virginia player averaging double-figure scoring numbers with 11.2 points on an average of 25.1 minutes per game.
"[Shine] had a good game against Tech and Maryland," associate coach Tim Taylor said. "She needs to do what she does - she has a role on the team, and we're telling everyone to just play to their roles and we'll be fine."
North Carolina boasts a 18-12 all-time record at Chapel Hill against Virginia. Tip off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Carmichael Arena.
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