Coming off of its first loss of the young season, the Virginia women's basketball team looks to get back on track as it travels to take on South Carolina tonight.
The Gamecocks (1-0) enter the contest after a 93-33 victory against St. Francis (Pa.) Friday night.
The Cavaliers (1-1) lost to 13th-ranked George Washington 70-68 Monday night despite being in control much of the game. Even against a top-15 opponent, Virginia did not find much solace in playing the Colonials tough.
"I think this team felt very strongly that they would win [Monday night]," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "I think we feel like it doesn't matter what you're ranked or who you are; what matters to us right now is that we know we're good and we're going to prove it."
Leading the way for Virginia tonight will be senior guard and co-captain Sharneé Zoll. Zoll is coming off of an uncharacteristic performance against George Washington, a game in which she had five turnovers and three assists. She boasted a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio a year ago.
Zoll's backcourt mate, sophomore guard Monica Wright, also had a tough night Monday, going 1-8 from the floor with only four points and being in foul trouble most of the first half. Wright, last year's ACC Rookie of the Year, averaged 15.1 points per game in her freshman campaign.
The Virginia frontcourt has played well its first two games, led by juniors forward Lyndra Littles and center Aisha Mohammed.
Littles saw her first action Monday after missing the first two games and made an immediate impact, registering 25 points and 11 rebounds.
"Lyndra is one of our go-to players," Zoll said. "She's an energy player, she's just everything for us. She gets boards, she gets the ball to the basket, she hits jumpers and she sets screens."
Mohammed has been one of the better kept secrets around the conference. In her first two games at Virginia, the Central Arizona transfer is averaging 14 points and 9.5 rebounds. Even so, Ryan believes the Cavaliers can do a better job getting Mohammed more touches to "give her a chance to put more points on the board."
Tonight, Virginia most likely will be without sophomore guard Enongé Stovall, who suffered a knee injury in the loss to George Washington. Stovall had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the team's win against Longwood.
South Carolina will look to juniors forward Demetress Adams and guard Brionna Dickerson to hand Virginia its second straight loss. Adams had 21 points in the Gamecocks' opener, while Dickerson registered a career-high 17 points.
Another South Carolina player to keep an eye on will be freshman guard Jordan Jones. Jones netted 15 points (all in the first half) in her debut against St. Francis en route to SEC Freshman of the Week honors.
The game will also be a homecoming of sorts for senior guard Tara McKnight, a Bluffton, S.C. native. Known for her hard work and leadership, McKnight is a walk-on who has been voted team co-captain each of the last two seasons.
"Of course we want to get Tara in the game down in South Carolina," Zoll said. "That's her home state and her being a senior, this is her going-home party."
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