Virginia vs. FSU Preview

#16 Virginia (14-5, 5-4) at Florida State (7-13, 3-7)
Feb. 1, 1998 -- 2:00 p.m.
WINA Radio 1070 AM -- Sunshine Network
Tully Gym (2,500) -- Tallahassee, Fla.

Today's game is a match-up of two of the ACC's top three scorers and the league's top two shot blockers. FSU's Latavia Coleman ranks second in the league with 18.3 ppg and Virginia's Mimi McKinney ranks third in the league with 15.8 ppg. DeMya Walker leads the league in blocked shots with 3.5 blocks per game and Florida State's Brooke Wyckoff ranks second with 2.7 blocks per game.

Virginia snapped a two-game losing streak with a 93-57 win over Georgia Tech and moved above .500 in the ACC for only the second time this season. Kate Mooney scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Cavaliers to the win over the Yellow Jackets. DeMya Walker and Mimi McKinney each scored 19. Walker had a game-high 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year.

Florida State comes into the game looking to break a two-game losing skid. The Seminoles lost to N.C. State 72-62 at home on Jan. 25 and then lost at Clemson 85-56 on Jan. 29.

The Cavaliers hold a 15-0 advantage in the series with the Florida State.

UVa will be without the services of point guard Renee Robinson who suffered a concussion in the Old Dominion game when she collided with Mery Andrade at midcourt. She was knocked unconscious, but returned to play in that game. Robinson will not play in the Friday night game vs. Georgia Tech and is questionable for Sunday's game at Florida State. She leads the team in assists with (3.7) and steals (2.3).

She is the third guard to succumb to injury this season. Robinson follows Monick Foote and Tiffany Bower on the injured list. Foote made the decision to redshirt this season due to a chronic ankle problem and a stress fracture in the right leg. Bower suffered a torn left achilles tendon on the third day of practice this season.

Head Coach Debbie Ryan, in her 21st season, brings a career record of 476-162 (.748) into tonight's game. Ryan is the ACC leader in conference wins (195) and winning percentage (.748). Last Time Out with Florida State (Jan. 2, 1998)

The first half was ugly, and even though Virginia was leading, Cavaliers coach Debbie Ryan was unhappy. On its way to a 31-28 lead over Florida State, the No. 9 Cavaliers had 15 turnovers and only gained the slim advantage, thanks to a late 11-0 run.

"We just haven't become consistent with being able to control those kinds of things," Ryan said of her team's tendency to play sloppily. "Now, I just start to substitute when players turn the ball over."

Ryan's halftime displeasure had an immediate impact as the Cavaliers started the second half with a 20-4 run to open a 19-point lead and coasted to a 75-62 victory Friday night.

"We just played better in the second half," Ryan said. "We spread things out better and we were able to knock some shots down."

DeMya Walker led the way for Virginia with 21 points, 13 rebounds, a school-record eight blocks and four steals, but Seminoles first-year coach Sue Semrau said the way Virginia came out after halftime told the tale.

Florida State committed seven of its 32 turnovers during the blitz, and Virginia finished with a 37-17 advantage in points scored off miscues.

"A good program knows what it takes to get things going," Semrau said. "They came out attacking us and we didn't handle it well." The Seminoles never got closer than nine points after the run.

Mimi McKinney added 20 points and Erin Stovall had 13 for the Cavaliers, who won despite committing 25 turnovers - 15 in the opening half.

The Seminoles were led by Latavia Coleman with 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Brooke Wyckoff with 14 points, eight rebounds and six steals.

                    Virginia    Florida State
    Points          70.5            66.5
    Points Allowed  64.6            72.2
    Rebounds        38.7            37.6
    Rebound Margin  -1.4            +2.1
    FG %            .420            .418
    FG% defense     .390            .441
    3-pt FG %       .297            .288
    FT %            .641            .617
    Assists         13.8            12.6
    Turnovers       20.1            24.9
    Blocks          6.0             4.8
    Steals          12.4            9.8

The bench crew contributed 50 points in the Cavaliers 86-60 win over Maryland on Jan. 8 led by Erin Stovall with 15 points and Dean'na Mitchelson with 11.

Lesley Brown recorded a career-high 21 points off the bench vs. California (Dec. 28) and nearly matched that with 20 points vs. Duke (Jan. 23).

The Cavaliers have been out-rebounded in 11 of 19 games this season and are 6-5 in those games. The Cavaliers have been out-rebounded in eight of their last 10 games, most recently by Wake Forest (43-30), Duke (43-29) and Old Dominion (49-29).

Mimi McKinney has 43 three-pointers this season which is a new season total for her in three-point shooting. She had 25 treys last year for her best year from behind the arc.

Mimi McKinney's 48 points vs. North Carolina is the ACC's season high in points. She also holds the season-high in field goals made (16) and three-point field goals made (7). DeMya Walker's eight blocks is a season-high for the conference, tied with Florida State's Brooke Wyckoff.

As a team, Virginia has achieved the league high in four categories: field goal percentage defense (.183 vs. Mt. St. Mary's), free throw percentage (.875 vs. Santa Clara), steals (25 vs. California), blocks (14, vs. Mt. St. Mary's).

The Cavaliers are 281-50 (.849) during the last 24 years at home and are 119-9 (.930) in University Hall since 1990.

DeMya Walker set a new UVa single game record for blocked shots with eight blocks in the Florida State game on Jan. 2. She broke the old record of seven which was held by Walker (twice), Heidi Burge and Jacki LaBerge. she ranks fifth in ACC history in blocked shots.

Walker's first block of the season, which came in the 13:06 mark in the second half of the William & Mary game (Nov. 16), established her as the Virginia's all-time blocks leader, eclipsing the mark of 152 set by Heather Burge (1990-93). Walker ended the night with three blocks.

    DeMya Walker
        Blocked shots   3.7     first
        field goal %    .56.3%  fourth
        scoring 14.7            seventh
    Mimi McKinney
        scoring 15.6            third
        3-pt FG 2.3             third
        free throw %    76.2%   third
        steals  2.4             third
        3-pt FG%    36.8%       fifth
        assists 3.6             eighth
        field goal %    .39.2%  tenth
    Erin Stovall
        steals  22  sixth
        free throw %    70.6%   fifth
    Lisa Hosac
        rebounds    7.2         eighth
    Renee Robinson
        steals  2.3             fourth
        assists 3.7             seventh

As a team, Virginia leads the league in steals (12.4) and blocks (6.1). The team ranks second in field goal percentage defense (.394).

Katie Tracy, a 5-5 freshman point guard from Richmond, Va., was added to the Virginia roster on Dec. 12. Tracy, who started all 21 games for the Virginia women's soccer team this past Fall, will bolster the Cavalier roster that has been hit hard with injuries. UVa began the season without guards Tiffany Bower and Monick Foote who are out for the year with injuries.

Tracy was a three-time Dominion District Player of the Year and a two-time Central Region Player of the Year in basketball as well as the Virginia High School League State Player of the Year. Tracy led James River High School to the the state finals last season and averaged 14.0 points for her prep career. She was also the Richmond Times Dispatch Player of the Year as a junior and a senior and a three-time All-State selection in basketball.

As a midfielder for head coach April Heinrichs and the nationally ranked UVa soccer team, Tracy was the team's fourth leading scorer with four goals and four assists. The soccer team posted a 14-5-2 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. During her prep soccer career, she was a NSCAA and Parade All-American.

DeMya Walker is getting closer to 1000 points. She currently has 957 points for her career and if she continues to average 15.8 points per game, she could reach the 1000-point mark in the Maryland game on Feb. 9. She will become the 15th player in school history to reach the 1000-point plateau.

DeMya Walker has 591 rebounds in her career and needs only 10 more rebounds to break into the Top 10 in career rebounding in Virginia history. Nancy Mayer (1983-87) holds onto the 10th spot in the career rankings with 601 rebounds.

DeMya Walker ranks second in the nation in blocked shots. Samantha Tomlinson of Troy State is top shot blocker in the country with 4.1 blocks per game. Here are the top five in that category:

    player (school)                     G   B   Avg.
1.  Samantha Tomlinson (Troy St.)       18  74  4.1
2.  DeMya Walker (Virginia)             19  67  3.5
3.  Lasendia Baker (Mississippi Va.)    18  53  2.9
4.  Teresa Jenkins (Florida A & M)      17  50  2.9
5.  Mani Ortega (Idaho State)           18  52  2.9
    Myndee Larsen (Southern Utah)       18  52  2.9

Walker is closing in on the ACC numbers as well. Currently, she ranks fourth in the conference in blocked shots with 215 career blocked shots.

    player, school (years)              G   B   Avg.
1.  Dawn Royster, UNC (1984-87)         110 329 3.0
2.  Peggy Caple, Clem (1982-1985)       119 298 2.5
3.  Dolores Bootz, GaT (1985-88)        91  245 2.7
4.  DeMya Walker, Va. (1996- present)   83  219 2.7

Mimi McKinney and Kate Mooney are moving up the chart in three-point shooting. McKinney's seven treys against UNC moved her ahead of Mooney.

Tora Suber is Virginia's all-time leader in three-point field goals made with 220.

        Player          G   Made    Att.
    1.  Tora Suber      127 220     666
    2.  Tammi Reiss     127 139     334
    3.  Dena Evans      134 129     370
    4.  Dawn Staley     131 124     371
    5.  Monick Foote    84  121     326
    6.  Mimi McKinney   93  81      235
    7.  Kate Mooney     70  68      217
    8.  Kathy McConnell 62  64      210
    9.  Donna Holt      32  49      128
    10. Wendy Palmer    126 31      96

For the first time this season, a Virginia player was touted as the ACC Player of the Week. Mimi McKinney earned the honor for the week of Jan. 19 after leading Virginia to a 105-100 upset of North Carolina.

Mimi McKinney was scorching the nets on Jan. 15 in Chapel Hill, N.C. and she became the first woman in Virginia history to score over 40 points in a game. She was 16-27 from the field, 7-12 from three-point range and 9-13 from the charity stripe in her 48-point performance against fifth-ranked North Carolina in triple overtime (Jan. 15). She had 35 points at the end of regulation. The 48 points is the most ever by a men's or women's Virginia player against a Division I opponent. McKinney's 48 points ranks second all-time in Virginia basketball history behind Barry Parkhill's 51 points vs. Baldwin-Wallace (Dec. 11, 1971) and ties Buzzy Wilkerson's 48-point game vs. Hampden-Sydney (Dec. 1, 1954).

She eclipsed the women's single game scoring record of 39 established by Wendy Palmer in the Maryland game on Jan. 25, 1995.

The Cavaliers will be without the services senior guard/forward Monick Foote and junior guard Tiffany Bower this season. Foote made the decision to redshirt this season due to a chronic ankle problem (right) and a stress fracture in the same leg that developed during the summer. Foote wants to take the time to properly rehab the leg and comeback for a healthy senior year in 1998-99.

Bower suffered a torn left achilles tendon on the third day of practice and will not play this season. Bower worked extremely hard over the summer to come back from a torn right achilles tendon which she suffered on the eve of the NCAA Tournament last March and was cleared to play this season.

Lisa Hosac recorded the first double-double of the season with her 12 point-12 rebound performance against Kent on Nov. 21. Last season, she recorded two double-doubles.

DeMya Walker has four double-doubles for the season. She recorded her first double-double of the year with her 13 point-14 rebound performance vs. VCU on Nov. 29. She recorded her second one against Mt. St. Mary's on Dec. 8 with 19 points-17 rebounds. Her third came on Jan. 2 vs.Florida State with 21 points-13 rebounds. She recorded 16 points-13 rebounds on Jan. 8 vs. Maryland for her fourth double-double. Her fifth and most recent came on Jan. 30 with 19 points-12 rebounds vs. Georgia Tech.

All of the University of Virginia women's basketball games are broadcast on WINA Radio 1070 AM. Rob Shaffer calls the play-by-play with color commentary provided by Robbie Robinson. In addition to WINA's broadcast of all the games locally, seven of the remaining 12 regular season games will be broadcast state-wide on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. The network games will also be picked up by AudioNet on the internet (www.audionet.com).

    The remaining network broadcasts are:
        Feb. 5 vs. Clemson 7:30 p.m.
        Feb. 9 at Maryland 7 p.m.
        Feb. 12 at N.C. State 7 p.m.
        Feb. 15 vs. North Carolina 4 p.m.
        Feb. 19 at Wake Forest 7 p.m.
        Feb. 22 vs. Duke 2 p.m.

Fans of UVa women's basketball can now watch the Cavaliers on public television. Central Virginia's Public TV, WHTJ-TV 41 will broadcast the Jan. 30 game vs. Georgia Tech on tape delay at 11:30 p.m. and the Feb. 5 game vs. Clemson on tape delay at 11:00 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live in northern Virginia on public television station WNVT Falls Church.

Production funding for the public television broadcast of these UVa women's basketball games is made possible, in part, by grants from Nike and by the University of Virginia Continuing Education Centers in Northern Virginia and Richmond.

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