Women’s basketball: Virginia hosts No. 5 Notre Dame on Thursday

The Virginia women’s basketball team (16-9, 9-3 ACC) hosts No. 5 Notre Dame (23-2, 11-1 ACC) on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7:00 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.

All of the 2017-18 Virginia women’s basketball games – home and away – are available locally on the radio on NewsRadio 1070 AM and 98.9 FM WINA. The game will also stream live online as an ACC Network Extra contest.

Virginia comes into the game tied for third place in the conference with Florida State, with both teams holding a 9-3 mark in ACC play. Notre Dame is tied for first place with Louisville at 11-1. Virginia’s nine ACC wins are the most since the team went 9-7 in conference play in 2011-12 (Joanne Boyle’s first season). The last time the Cavaliers tallied 10 conference wins was the 2007-08 season when they went 10-4 and finished in a tie for third place.

Virginia is coming off a 64-62 victory over Virginia Tech on Sunday in Blacksburg. Virginia led 56-38 at the end of the third quarter, but Virginia Tech’s Taylor Emery scored the first 15 points of the fourth to make it a three-point game with 6:07 to play. The Hokies tied the game with 2:49 remaining and then took a 61-59 lead, extending it to 62-59 with 1:41 remaining. Virginia scored the final five points of the game, including the game-winning put-back by senior Lauren Moses (Mount Holly, N.J.) with 38 seconds remaining to secure the victory.

Moses scored eight points against the Hokies and logged the 100th blocked shot of her career at Virginia Tech, becoming the eighth player in program history to reach that milestone. Moses is closing in on 1,000 career points, needing six points to become the 34th player in program history to reach the milestone.

Redshirt senior J’Kyra Brown (Rocky Mount, N.C.) and sophomore guard Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) each scored 15 points at Virginia Tech. Brown went 3-of-6 from three-point range at Virginia Tech, extending her streak of games in which she has hit at least one three-pointer to 19. Brown ranks eighth in the ACC in three-point efficiency, making 40.2 percent of her attempts.

Toussaint scored a combined 27 points in the two games last week, making nine baskets and dishing eight assists. She ranks 12th in the ACC in assists per game (3.7).

Notre Dame leads the ACC in scoring, averaging 84.8 points per game, ranking fifth in the nation. UND also leads the ACC in field goal percentage, making 49.6 percent of their attempts, which ranks fourth in the nation. The Irish commit the fewest fouls per game of any ACC school, at 12.8 per contest, ranking sixth in the nation. Arike Ogunbowale leads the ACC, averaging 20.0 points per game. Jessica Shepard is sixth in rebounding at 8.2 per game and ranks 11th in scoring at 15.4 points per game.

Virginia is 0-5 against the Irish in ACC games. The Cavaliers and Irish met twice last season. Notre Dame picked up a 76-59 victory in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. With the game tied at 30 late in the second quarter, the Irish scored 16 of the next 20 points spanning the half to take a 12-point lead. In the regular-season meeting, Virginia fell 82-74 in South Bend. Virginia started the second half with an 8-0 run to tie the game, 41-41, but the Irish responded with a 9-0 run of their own. The Cavaliers battled back to tie the game three more times in the second half, but the Irish never broke. Marina Mabrey finished one away from her career high with 26 points and Notre Dame used a late 9-0 run to beat Virginia 82-74.

The Cavaliers play their final home game of the 2017-18 season, hosting Miami on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 12:30 p.m. which is this year’s Play4Kay game. All fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game. Sunday will also be Senior Day with the Cavaliers’ four seniors set to be honored with a brief pregame recognition.

Single-game ticket prices for all home games are $10 for Reserved seating, $8 for adult General Admission and $6 for youth (18 & under), senior (60 & over) and UVA faculty/staff General Admission. Fans may purchase home game tickets through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office online at VirginiaSports.com, by phone and in person. The Virginia Athletics Ticket Office is located in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium and open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Telephone purchases can be made by calling 1-800-542-UVA1 (8821) or locally at 434-924-UVA1 (8821).