After a 92-72 win over Old Dominion Sunday, the Cavaliers will look to move to 3-0 tonight against Marquette. Last year, Virginia went on the road to Milwaukee and defeated the Golden Eagles, 64-56. The Cavaliers will need to continue their solid play so far this season to remain undefeated against a dangerous Marquette team.
Virginia will need to maintain their intensity at home in their second game at the John Paul Jones Arena after a very emotional and intense game to open the new venue.
"From the minute that we came through the smoke, it was incredible," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "I knew how CavMan was going to come out, but when I saw his feet, I didn't know how I'd feel. When they came to get me to get the ball, goose bumps were just all over me."
The Cavaliers will need to capitalize on their home-court advantage against a very strong Marquette team. Tuesday at home, the Golden Eagles knocked off the No. 24 Washington Huskies, 78-61. It was Marquette's first game of the season and the game tonight will be the Golden Eagles' first road test.
The Cavaliers will have to play solid defense on the perimeter and in the paint to beat Marquette tonight. Against Washington the Golden Eagles were 6-15 from the beyond the three-point line, converting 40 percent from long range. Virginia's post players will need to do a good job containing senior forward Danielle Kamm, who scored 15 points for the Golden Eagles in the win over Washington. Marquette got quite a bit of production from their forward trio of Kamm, senior Christina Quaye and junior Svetlana Kovalenko, who combined for 35 points on 12-26 shooting from the field.
For Virginia, sophomore forward Lyndra Littles will need to continue to be a big factor inside. In Virginia's first two games this season, Littles has two double-doubles, and leads the team with 18.5 points per game and 11 rebounds per game.
"This year she's just turned into someone you can count on every minute of every game and she's done a lot of things that, last year, she just wasn't ready to do that every day," Ryan said.
After posting a career-high 23 points and 12 rebounds in the game against Old Dominion, Littles was named the ACC Player of the Week. Littles has combined with senior center Siedah Williams to score 68 of Virginia's 161 points so far this season.
"Siedah has been a good role model and a good leader for [Littles], and they play so well together," Ryan said. "They've done a great job together."
The one thing that Littles and Williams need to improve on, however, is limiting opponents' offensive rebounds. Marquette only grabbed 11 offensive rebounds in the win over Washington, but Virginia gave up 23 offensive rebounds to Old Dominion in its last game. If Virginia gives up too many second-chance shots, Kamm, Quaye and Kovalenko could wreak havoc inside for the Golden Eagles.
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