The Virginia women's basketball team returns to conference action Friday night as it takes on fourth-ranked Maryland at 7 p.m. in College Park.
The Cavaliers (17-5, 5-1 ACC) come into the game having won 11 of their past 12 games. The lone loss came to Maryland (24-2, 8-1 ACC) Jan. 18 at John Paul Jones Arena. Virginia lost that game 74-62, but led for the majority of the contest.
The Cavaliers came away from the loss knowing they can compete with the nation's elite, and they will not be intimidated going into a hostile environment Friday night.
"At this point, I'll be honest with you -- it's just one of the games that we're playing," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "We're not going to put a whole lot of emphasis on, 'We can beat them. We're good enough.' We already know that. So we are going to go up there and put our best foot forward and play the game."
The last time out, Virginia defeated Morehead State in convincing fashion 88-43. Ryan used that game as an opportunity to give her bench more game experience that will help out in conference play.
"I thought that we took care of business the way we should have," Ryan said. "We got people good playing time and good minutes."
Maryland, on the other hand, comes into the game after three of its last four games reached overtime. The Terrapins defeated Georgia Tech in double overtime in College Park 99-97 before falling at No. 3 North Carolina 97-86 in double overtime. Its last time out, Maryland needed overtime to squeak past Virginia Tech 74-71 in Blacksburg.
A big part of Virginia's success lately has been the team's defensive effort. In their last two games, the Cavaliers held N.C. State's shooters to 19 of 63 shooting and Morehead State to only five field goals the entire second half.
Sophomore guard Monica Wright and junior center Aisha Mohammed led the defensive effort Monday night. Wright tallied five steals while Mohammed grabbed 10 boards, enabling Virginia to out-rebound Morehead State 49-25.
"I think we have shown that we can rebound with just about anybody that we have on our schedule," Ryan said. "We will come up against an extremely good rebounding team Friday night, so that's going to be real key for us."
Wright leads the scoring attack for Virginia, averaging 17.4 points per game. Junior forward Lyndra Littles contributes 15.8 points per game, and Mohammed adds 12.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
Senior point guard Sharneé Zoll has put together an outstanding senior season. She leads the team with 5.6 assists per game and leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.92). Zoll needs only eight assists to become the third ACC woman to register 700 assists in her career.
Maryland's offensive attack is led by junior guard Kristi Toliver, who averages 17.1 points and 8 assists per game. Junior forward Marissa Coleman adds 16.3 points per game while senior center Crystal Langhorne chips in 16.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per contest.
The game at Maryland will be one of Virginia's toughest tests, but the Cavaliers believe they are ready for the challenge.
"We definitely have a high confidence level," Wright said. "I have faith in my teammates and I believe in us, but at the same time, we have to stay focused and stay grounded"
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