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RAMS HEAD TO NORFOLK TO TAKE ON REIGNING CHAMPS IN CAA OPENER
Black and Gold seek revenge after loss to Old Dominion last year's championships
1-04-09
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra, once said, “The best type of revenge is massive success.”
The Virginia Commonwealth University women’s basketball team is looking to exert that type of revenge on Monday evening as the Rams travel down I-64 East to take on the Monarchs of Old Dominion in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both squads.
VCU will be looking to avenge a tough loss to the Monarchs in last year’s CAA Championship game as ODU climbed back from a 17-point first-half deficit to claim its 17th-straight conference championship.
The Rams enter the contest on a six-game winning streak, holding their opponents to just over 50 points per game (51.8) during that span. That outstanding defense has turned into great offense with a 73.7 points per game average over those six games.
Leading the way in the latest VCU victory was junior La’Tavia Rorie (Charlotte, N.C.) who tallied 17 points in a 67-63 home win over American. Rorie has been the key to the Black and Gold’s success averaging nearly 11 points per game in the Rams’ 10 wins, while only scoring 1.0 ppg in the two losses.
Aiding Rorie will be senior Quanitra Hollingsworth (Chesapeake, Va.) who leads the team in scoring, 14.8 ppg, and rebounding, 9.1 rpg. In the win over American, Hollingsworth recorded her 42nd career double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. She also became the first player in VCU women’s basketball history to eclipse the 900-rebound mark and now sits at 910 for her four-year career.
The Rams have displayed a balanced offensive attack all year long with nine different games featuring at least three players in double-figures. Senior Radoslava Bachvarova (Varna, Bulgaria) and junior Kita Waller (Gainesville, Ga.) are the other two players averaging in double-figures with 10.3 and 10.0 ppg, respectively.
Hollingsworth will have a tough assignment as ODU’s frontcourt is solidified by Tiffany Green, who ranks fourth in the CAA in scoring, 16.2 ppg, and fifth in rebounding, 9.1 rpg. Jessica Canady, the Monarchs’ second-leading scorer and top rebounder is listed as day-to-day after suffering an injury that kept her out of ODU’s road loss at Mississippi on Friday evening.
VCU enters the contest with the league’s top mark in non-conference play at 10-2, while Old Dominion is searching to snap a three-game losing streak and is 5-5 on the year.
Game time at the Ted Constant Convocation Center is set for 7 p.m.
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