Game 20: Virginia

It's been six days since the Drubbing (or Debacle) in Durham and now it's time to get back on the court and show what we learned. No more winning streak. No more perfect season. No more #1 ranking. We only have a home winning streak and a streak over Virginia, none of which matter since a loss tonight would be devastating. Will the team respond to the loss or has Duke exposed their flaws?

One last point about Duke: Does Bales have nightmares about Toliver? First there was "The Shot" and then on Saturday there was "The Block"

I have changed the opponent preview to hopefully make it more reader friendly.

Record: 12-5, 2-1 (ACC), 2-2 (Road)
Common Opponents: Temple (W, 71-65), Marshall (W, 75-58)
Losses: Liberty, South Dakota State, UConn, Richmond and UNC
Most points given up: 96 (twice)

Team Info:

They score 75.2 ppg, while allowing 68.4

They Shoot 42.8%, while opponents shoot 40.4%.

Shoot and allow 32% from behind the arc.

They grab 40.4 rebounds per game, only 3 better than their opponents.

They also turn the ball over more than 17 times per game, and generate 9 steals per game.

Don't get in a ton of foul trouble as no one is averaging more than 3 fouls per game.

only 53 blocks all year.

their bench has very little punch.

Players to Watch

Sharnee Zoll - one of the best PG in the league and is a slightly lesser version of Harding. She drives the lane, shoots the three and will dish the ball in traffic. Also has active hands on defense.

Lyndra Littles - Main post player. Undersized, but tenacious. Shooting 51.5% and leads team in points (15.9) and rebounds (8.9) Also leads team in turnovers.

Monica Wright - Frontrunner for ACC Rookie of the Year honors. Coleman clone, but has to do more because lack of other players. She's active on defense with 41 steals and will drive to the bucket as well as take pull up jumperz. Has only made 9 of 44 three-pointers all year.

Brenna McGuire - Main three-point threat. She basically runs down the court and sets up shop for a 3. Has taken only 35 shots inside the arc all year (made more 3s than that). Also a liability on defense as she isn't quick enough to stay with faster guards.

Siedah Williams - Athletic forward who is only averaging 8.6 ppg and 6.3 rpg. She has taken over 100 shots, but her athleticism isn't helping with her offense.

Keys to the Game

Defend. Virginia is going to drive to the bucket and set screens all day because of what they saw at Duke. Hopefully the days of easy trips to the basket are over. I see Toliver trying to redeem herself by guarding Zoll and Coleman on Wright.

Don't be overaggressive. Sometimes teams will try to hard to play defense and it results in foul trouble. We have to be smart on defense, but not ultraaggressive so that half the team is on the bench.

Shooting. Forget about the last game and do what they have done the previous 18 games. As pointed out by the Basketcases, the starters haven't faired well in the last two games, shooting only 43%.

Pressure the Cavs. They have 3 players over 50 TOs, so they must be forced to do something they aren't used to doing.

Attack them. They don't get in foul trouble, so either they A) don't play defense or B)are great at containing teams and forcing them to do what they want. We have an issue where we never attack teams and settle for jumpers, etc.

Contain Zoll. She makes that team go. Stop her and the offense will falter.

Rebound. We should be able to dominate them on the boards. They have no one over 6'3.

Defend. It needs to be reiterated after last Saturday.

Articles

Washington Times

Baltimore Sun

Daily Progress

Daily Progress

TV/Radio

The game is on WMUC Radio

Television coverage on RSN. For those in the area, Comcast SportsNet will show the game at 11:30 on tape delay or check here to see if the game will be on live in your area.