March 11, 2009

HOLLINGSWORTH, BACHVAROVA EARN SPOTS ON ALL-CAA SQUADS
‘Q’ on First Team and All-Defensive; Raddy on Third Team and All-Academic

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Championship caliber teams are usually built around a strong foundation of senior leadership.

This year’s Virginia Commonwealth University women’s basketball team already knows it has the latter part of that statement, this weekend it will try to capture the first part.

That strong foundation of senior leadership was recognized by the Rams’ Colonial Athletic Association opponents on Wednesday evening in Harrisonburg with seniors Quanitra Hollingsworth (Chesapeake, Va.) (right) and Radoslava Bachvarova (Varna, Bulgaria) both earning spots on All-CAA teams.

Both veterans were honored twice on the evening with Hollingsworth being named to the All-CAA First Team along with the All-CAA Defensive Team, while Bachvarova garnered spots on the All-CAA Third Team and All-CAA Academic Team.

Hollingsworth came back from an Achilles injury that kept her out of the final 11 games of last season to post the most double-doubles of her career (16), the most points (436), the second highest point-per-game average of her career (14.4) and the second highest field goal percentage of her career (52.1%).

“Q has been one of our leaders ever since stepping foot onto campus,” Head Coach Beth Cunningham said. “What she has accomplished over her five years in the program is something that some players can only dream of doing and she has really been the cornerstone of what we’ve been trying to build here at VCU.”

The Chesapeake, Va., native finished off the regular season with six straight double-doubles, including a 23-point, 12-rebound performance in a 56-39 drubbing of Georgia State in the regular-season finale.

”She was outstanding during the stretch run and it is evident that she has her eyes on capturing a championship before her time is up,” Cunningham said.

Bachvarova (left) finished the regular season on a tear, scoring in double-digits in 13 of her last 14 contests. For the season, she averaged 10.9 points (second on the team) and knocked down a team-leading 35 three-pointers, along with grabbing 3.1 rebounds per outing.

”Raddy has been just as good as Q has down the stretch run,” Cunningham said. “She’s displayed her ability to score when we need her to and that was clear when she lead our huge comeback at Hofstra. When she gets going, I think she’s one of the best in the league.”

Bachvarova’s hard work does not stop on the hardwood with her second straight All-Academic honor after posting above a 3.0 cumulative GPA in interdisciplinary studies at VCU.