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RAMS LOOK FOR SEVENTH STRAIGHT HOME WIN AGAINST N.C. CENTRAL
Black and Gold host Eagles in last game prior to Holiday Break
12-20-08

RICHMOND, Va. – Home is where the heart is.

That message is loud and clear when it comes to the Virginia Commonwealth University women's basketball team, winners of six straight at the Alltel Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

The Rams (7-2) will put that streak on the line on Sunday afternoon when the Eagles of N.C. Central University (2-10) come to town for the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

VCU is coming off its third straight win and sixth in the past seven games after a decisive 74-51 road victory at Radford University on Friday evening.

Senior Quanitra Hollingsworth (Chesapeake, Va.) and junior Kita Waller (Gainesville, Ga.) combined for 41 points in the contest to lead a balanced offensive attack that proved to be too much for the Highlanders.

Hollingsworth leads the squad in scoring (15.0 points per game) and rebounding (8.2 boards per outing), while classmate Radoslava Bachvarova (Varna, Bulgaria) is pouring in 11.0 points per game in her final season with the Black and Gold.

Prior to the team’s shoot-around on Sunday morning, VCUathletics.com sat down with Coach Cunningham to get her take on the match-up:

VCUathletics.com: VCU has never played NC Central before, what type of problems do coaches run into when playing a team that you do not have a lot of information on?

Cunningham: Whether we have played a team before or not, we really take the same approach as every year and every team is different. We will gather as many tapes as we can on NC Central, as we do with all of our games, and try to familiarize our staff and team as much as possible with the video's and the statistical information in order to prepare for the game. Now that we are both almost 10 games into the season, we will have ample information on NC Central and be pretty familiar with their basketball team by the time we play them.

VCUathletics.com: Now that you've had a little bit of a chance to watch some film, what are some of N.C. Central's main strengths?

Cunningham: One of the thing that jumps out at you after watching film is their quickness. We saw it with Radford as well, and we were able to do a good job of handling their speed and athleticism and this game will be the same, our kids will have to work hard for all 40 minutes to keep up with their speed.

VCUathletics.com: To me, one player that seems to always put up numbers, particuarly points and rebounding, is D'Andra Moss. She's scored at least eight points in nearly every game this year. What makes her such a special player?

Cunningham: I love the intensity, focus, and work ethic that D brings to practice every day. She has been an outstanding leader and voice on the team for us this year. She is someone that we count on day in and day out in so many different areas. She has consistently been a scorer, rebounder, and defender for us. I think she has the ability to be as good as anyone in our league. With her focus and work ethic, I am confident we will continue to see her develop and build on the progress she has made so far.      

VCUathletics.com: There are so many players that seem to do all the little things that don't necessarily show up on the stat sheet on this team. Is that a characteristic that you and your staff look for when recruiting? If so, how tough is it to find players, especially now-a-days with a lot of the "SportsCenter" type highlights taking over basketball?

Cunningham: Certainly in the recruiting process we look for kids that have those qualities along with talent and the ability to contribute to our program. However, I think as a staff we really try to emphasize "doing the little things." Often times it's the little things that end up being the difference between winning and losing games. It's something we really try to pay attention to and emphasize in practice...in order to make "doing the little things" a habit.

VCUathletics.com: Favorite Christmas song?

Cunningham: Oh Holy Night