A year ago, coach Joanne Boyle was unknown in Virginia. She had proved herself as a promising coach at the University of California-Berkeley only to inherit the Virginia women’s basketball team from coaching legend Debbie Ryan. Ryan had coached Virginia for 34 seasons. Boyle had yet to coach her first game in Charlottesville.
Entering tonight’s season opener, Boyle faces the increased expectations that come after a year of experience and a successful 24-11 campaign. The Cavaliers start the year just outside the top 25 and are slated to finish fourth in the tough ACC — recognition Boyle embraces.
“I liked that the bar is being raised,” Boyle said. “As a coach, I like the fact that the coaches and media have respect… I would hate to come in during your second year and have them pick us ninth.”
Virginia returns three of its starters from last year, including All-ACC preseason pick Ataira Franklin, who was second on the team in scoring last year with 12.4 points per game. The junior point guard is optimistic about the Cavaliers’ chances this season to improve upon last year’s WNIT bid.
“We thought we should have been in the NCAA tournament, but that is just more motivation for us,” Franklin said. “We want to get better each day to improve on the season we had last year.”
Senior guard China Crosby also returns after a torn ACL prematurely ended her 2011-12 season. The injury marked her second torn ACL in three seasons, but the senior is confident she can regain full strength.
“It made me gain so much power as a person and made me think of the game differently from the bench,” Crosby said. “I don’t look at my injuries and say, ‘I wish this could’ve happened, I wish that could’ve happened,’ I just say you get put in situations and it really defines what kind of person you are at the end of the day.”
A group of new faces joins Franklin and Crosby, including sophomore forward Sarah Imovbioh, a 2011 Parade All-American in high school who the NCAA ruled ineligible for competition last season because of a gap in her high school enrollment while in Nigeria.
“She is a tremendous athlete, but very raw,” Boyle said. “For now, it’s just been practice, but when the lights come on and the fans are there, you are going to see some things we weren’t able to do last year just on the boards and running in transition and hustle plays. Her learning curve is learning the game of basketball. Hopefully she will make up for that with her innate abilities.”
If Boyle follows last year’s successful formula, the Cavaliers will focus heavily on defense. Virginia last season held opponents to 54.1 points per game, the lowest tally in the ACC. The team will lose top defender, senior guard Lexie Gerson, to injury, but Boyle thinks her team will still be able to lock opponents down.
“The upperclassman are experienced, so it’s not like they are learning something new,” she said. “We can get more out of them on the defensive end of the floor early where last year we were pretty much teaching it at this time. You are always going to have other people step up and hopefully other people can contribute.”
Virginia’s first opponent is a familiar one. The Cavaliers take on the team that ended last year’s season. James Madison defeated Virginia, 68-59, in the quarterfinals of last year’s WNIT. The Dukes return four of their starters from last year’s 29-7 campaign, which saw the team reach the WNIT semifinals at Virginia’s expense.
“This game is not just a lot for me but a lot for this team just because we lost to them in WNITs last year,” Boyle said. “Right now I’m trying to focus on practice and what we have to do as a team to get this win.”
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