Defying expectations is something the Virginia women's basketball team is quite familiar with. Picked last year to finish seventh in the ACC, the Cavaliers ended up with a 17-13 overall record (9-7 ACC) and an NCAA tournament berth.
This season, the prognosticators have given the Cavaliers more respect. Virginia is ranked No. 29 in the AP preseason poll, and is selected to finish third in the ACC. Even though the team is perched high in the polls, the Cavaliers hope to retain their overachieving spirit from last season and move closer to a conference title.
They begin their quest tonight, when they face Zala Volan of Hungary at 7:30 in an exhibition at U-Hall, and begin their regular season Nov. 22 at Old Dominion.
"We are really excited to get the season started," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "And we think that we have a very strong team going into the season. We are all anxious to see what we look like on the court."
Ryan is a legend among women's basketball coaches. This season marks her 25th in her career at Virginia, during which she has amassed over 500 wins. This season, she has a Virginia team characterized by both experience and youth.
Despite having only two seniors on the squad, the Cavaliers retain nine players from last season, and four of them were among the top five in minutes played last season.
Sophomore forward Brandi Teamer is the team's top returner. She is a preseason candidate for the Naismith Player of the Year award, and was the ACC Freshman of the Year last season. She also earned gball-mag.com's National Freshman of the Year award.
Teamer, who averaged 14.9 points per game and 8.9 rebounds per game, is a force to be reckoned with in the paint, especially in the second half. Last season, however, she was plagued by inconsistency.
"I want to improve my turnover/assist ratio," Teamer said. "Last year I had about 12 turnovers in one game. I almost had a triple-double with turnovers. I just really want to make better decisions on my passes, make 'for-sure passes' rather than 'maybe passes.'"
Junior forward Anna Crosswhite likely will join Teamer in the starting frontcourt this season. She averaged 7.0 ppg and 2.9 rpg and led the team in free-throw shooting at 83 percent.
Crosswhite, known for her hustle and team leadership, was named team captain along with sophomore forward Jocelyn Logan-Friend and junior guard Anna Prillaman.
The Virginia backcourt will miss last year's star guard Telisha Quarles, but features a talented and seasoned performer in Prillaman.
"I'll have to score more because [Quarles] scored so much last year," Prillaman said. "I'll have to create more shots for me because I'd say around 80 percent of the shots I took last year were created off Telisha's drive."
Judging from her output last season, Prillaman shouldn't have too much trouble picking up the slack. She was one of the national leaders in three-point shooting last year, sinking 46 percent of her shots behind the arc.
With Quarles' departure the point guard spot is up for grabs, and both junior guard Safiya Grant-Fairley (2.7 ppg, 1.0 rpg) and sophomore Cherisse Graham, who sat out last season after transferring from Purdue, are vying for the job.
Graham "has fit in very well, and I guess we'll have to wait and see how she does when we get on the court," Ryan said. "She's really in a battle right now for the point guard position with Safiya Grant. Nothing's been decided at this point, but Cherisse adds a lot of quickness and the ability to shoot the ball to our program."
Other likely contributors at the post positions include sophomore center Lynette O'Reggio (3.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and Logan-Friend (2.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg). Freshmen Deidra Chapman, who at 6-foot-6 is the tallest member of the squad, and Tiffany Sardin will add depth to the frontcourt.
Despite being among one of the shortest players on the squad at 5-foot-9, sophomore guard LaTonya Blue managed to finish second on the team in rebounds per game with 4.3, and should see significant playing time this season. Senior guards Liz Sahin (3.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg) and Karen Jaeger (1.0 ppg, 1.2 rpg) will add experience off the bench for the Virginia backcourt.
Replacing a star like Quarles will be a daunting task for the Cavaliers, but a young Virginia team held mostly intact from last season has the potential to challenge defending ACC champion Duke, and bring the conference title back to Charlottesville.
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