The Virginia women's basketball team faces a tough challenge when they go on the road to take on the defending national champion No. 3 Maryland Terrapins (18-1) tonight at the Comcast Center.
The Cavaliers have amassed an impressive 12-5 record, which is good enough for an RPI of 34, but they are still in search of that signature win.
While victories over probable NCAA tournament teams like Temple and Marquette certainly help the résumé, in games against the nation's elite teams the Virginia women have been thoroughly trounced.
Against No. 5 Conneticut and No. 2 North Carolina, Virginia lost by a combined margin of 70 points.
In both games, Virginia allowed their opposition to score 96 points; no other team has scored more than 76 against the Cavalier defense.
Therefore, if the Cavaliers are to pull off the upset tonight, they will likely need to rely on their defense.
"The Connecticut game was a learning experience," sophomore forward Lyndra Littles said. "Since then, practice has been a lot more intense, a lot harder, and we've focused more on defense and transition defense. I think it's going to help us."
The biggest match-up in this contest will be in the post between Littles and Maryland's junior center Crystal Langhorne. Langhorne leads a balanced Terrapin offense with 15.2 points per game, including a team-high 14 last Saturday against No. 1 Duke. The loss snapped a 24-game winning streak for Maryland; they have not lost consecutive games since February 2005.
The season so far for Littles has been far from a sophomore slump. Her 15.9 points per game and 8.9 rebounds per game are both fourth best in the ACC. She has eight double-doubles on the season.
Littles "has changed [from last season] in every way," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "Her fitness level is a lot better. She has a lot more confidence. She's been a little bit more consistent in practice, which means that she's going to be more consistent throughout the year. She's just turned into a real tough player, and it's tough to play without her."
That toughness was evident against Marquette when Littles came back into the game after suffering a broken nose.
"She was down there fighting for boards, going harder for the basket than in the first half before she broke her nose," junior point guard Sharnée Zoll said. "She had no fear and I admire her for that."
Zoll has also been playing at a very high level. Her goal from the beginning has been to break Virginia all-time great Dawn Staley's career assist record of 729. In fact, the number is written on her basketball shoes as a reminder of her lofty goal.
As a freshman Zoll had 159 assists, breaking Staley's previous mark of 144. Through 81 career games, Zoll has 452 assists, which is fifth in Virginia history and still on pace to break Staley's record.
The only question left for the Virginia team is whether it can break through and re-establish itself as a national power.
Tonight's game will go a long way in answering just that.
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