Erin Stovall

Monick Foote

Ryan Becomes Sixth Coach to Reach 500

With the win over Florida State on Feb. 21, Virginia Head Coach Debbie Ryan won her 500th game and became the sixth coach to rack up 500 wins at one school in Division I.

Only five other coaches in Division I have attained 500 wins at one school: Pat Summit (Tennessee), Jody Conradt (Texas), Kay Yow (N.C. State), Mike Granelli (St. Peter's) and Marian Washington (Kansas).

Ryan, in her 22nd season, has averaged 23 wins per season and holds a career and Virginia record of 501-174 (.742).

Virginia Is One of ACC's Top Defensive Teams

The Cavaliers established themselves as one of the ACC's top defensive teams. Virginia ranked second in the ACC in scoring defense (63.8) and second in field goal percentage defense (.378). The Cavaliers led the conference in blocked shots (6.1), ranked third in steals (10.3) and third in turnover margin (3.5).

Walker is Considered One of Nation's Finest

DeMya Walker was named to the Women's Basketball Journal Defensive All-America second team. The 6-3 power forward led Virginia in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocked shots. She tied the Atlantic Coast Conference career blocked shot record and needs just one block to become the conference's all-time leader.

The Women's Basketball Journal Defensive All-America first team includes Semeka Randall (Tennessee), Mery Andrade (Old Dominion), Latasha Dorsey (Louisiana State), Nicole Kubik (Nebraska) and Roxanne McCrory (Colorado State).

Joining Walker on the second team is Itoro Umoh (Clemson), Dominique Canty (Alabama), Chamique Holdsclaw (Tennessee) and Ruth Riley (Notre Dame).

Walker is also a finalist for the Naismith Award, given to the top women's collegiate basketball player in the country. She is the only ACC player named as a finalist. In addition to Walker, the ten finalists of the Naismith Award are Svetlana Abrosimova (Connecticut), Canty, Tamika Catchings (Tennessee), Becky Hammon (Colorado State), Holdsclaw, Maylana Martin (UCLA), Randall, Stephanie White-McCarty (Purdue) and Tamika Whitmore (Memphis).

New and Improved Free Throw Shooting

Virginia was the ACC's top free throw shooting team (71.5 percent) and it was the first time since the 1988-89 season that the Cavaliers shot over 70 percent from the foul line as a team. Six UVa players shot above 70 percent from the line this season: Katie Tracy (91.2, 11-12), Lisa Hosac (84.5, 49-58), Erin Stovall (75.7, 81-107), Lesley Brown (75.0, 48-64), Monick Foote (72.3, 60-83) and Svetlana Volnaya (70.0, 35-50).

Hosac put together a string of 30 straight free throws this season which broke the school record. Stovall had a string of 13 straight free throws broken in the ACC Tournament.

Walker Is The Team's "Do Everything Player"

DeMya Walker can be considered one of the most complete players to ever play at Virginia. She led the team in scoring (15.0), rebounding (8.5), steals (1.9) and blocked shots (2.9) and ranked second on the team in assists (2.8).

In the ACC, she ranked first in blocks (2.9), third in rebounds (8.5), fourth in steals (1.9), fifth in field goal percentage (.549), and seventh in scoring (15.0).

Quick Notes

Robinson Better Since Injury

It might have taken an injury to improve Renee Robinson's performance on the court. Her stats improved after playing a gutsy 24 minutes and dishing out six assists in the game following a sprained left ankle injury on Jan. 14 and has since been a better player for Coach Ryan. In the 14 games after the injury, Robinson improved to 3.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Below is the comparison of Robinson's stats prior to the injury, after the injury and her cumulative stats:

                 G   FG     Pts. Reb. Ast. St.  Min.
Prior to injury  15  14-35  2.5  2.0  2.5  1.3  22.5
Post injury      14  22-49  3.9  3.4  3.6  1.8  29.3
Cumulative       29  36-84  3.2  2.7  3.0  1.5  25.8

Walker Becomes UVa's All-Time Leader in FG%

DeMya Walker ended her career as UVa's all-time leader in field goal percentage (.557). She edged out Heather Burge (.546) who held onto the career mark since 1993. Walker also tied Wendy Palmer for the single game field goal percentage when she was 9-9 from the field (1.00) vs. Towson on Dec. 11, 1998.

In her career, Walker has recorded three of UVa's top ten single season field goal percentage marks. In 1997, Walker shot .598 percent from the field for the third highest season mark. Last year, she shot .552 from the field seventh-highest mark, and this season, she shot .549 for the eighth highest mark.

Below is the single season rankings and the career rankings for field goal percentage:

Season FG% (min. 150 fgm) M-A
 1. .623 Heather Burge, 1993 (258-414)
 2. .614 Wendy Palmer, 1993 (156-254)
 3. .598 DeMya Walker, 1997 (165-276)
 4. .568 Wendy Palmer, 1994 (221-389)
 5. .566 Wendy Palmer, 1995 (227-401)
 6. .554 Heather Burge, 1992 (255-460)
 7. .552 Cathy Grimes, 1984 (216-391)
    .552 DeMya Walker, 1998 (190-344)
 9. .549 DeMya Walker, 1999 (168-306)
10. .544 Tonya Cardoza, 1981 (197-362)

Career FG% (min. 600 fgm) M-A
 1. .557 DeMya Walker (629-1129)
 2. .546 Heather Burge, 1990-93 (866-1587)
 3. .552 Wendy Palmer, 1993-96 (780-1412)
 4. .528 Cathy Grimes, 1982-85 (708-1342)
 5. .499 Nancy Mayer, 1983-87 (633-1268)
 6. .485 Daphne Hawkins, 1985-88 (635-1310)
 7. .481 Tammi Reiss, 1989-92 (633-1315)
 8. .578 Tonya Cardoza, 1987-91 (630-1319)
 9. .460 Dawn Staley, 1989-92 (753-1637)
10. .444 Donna Holt, 1985-88 (619-1393)

Hosac Breaks 18-year old Free Throw Record

Lisa Hosac hit 30 consecutive free throws before missing in the Duke game on Feb. 4. Hosac's streak began when she made her last three free throws in the VCU game on Nov. 24. She entered the Wake Forest game on Jan. 28 with a string of 26 straight made free throws which tied the 18-year old record held by Sandy Glasson. With her 4-4 performance from the line vs. the Demon Deacons, Hosac broke Glasson's record and extended the streak to 30.

Ryan Holds Advantage vs. Current ACC Coaches

Debbie Ryan holds a 138-71 record against the current coaches in the ACC and holds a winning record versus every coach in the conference.

Ryan vs.
 Jim Davis, Clemson             19-11
 Gail Goestenkors, Duke           9-6
 Sue Semrau, Florida St.          4-0
 Agnus Berenato, Georgia Tech    23-3
 Chris Weller, Maryland         31-20
 Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina 22-9
 Kay Yow, N.C. State            25-22
 Charlene Curtis, Wake Forest     5-0
 TOTAL                         138-71

Walker Breaks ACC Career Blocked Shot Record

She tied the record with one block in the North Carolina game (Feb. 28), but DeMya Walker broke the ACC's all-time career blocked shot record with her only block of the night in the last game of her college career. Walker blocked a shot vs. Penn State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (Mar. 12) to become the conference's all-time leader. She eclipsed the record held for the last 12 years by Dawn Royster of North Carolina.

 Player, Team             Years    GP   Blk  Avg.
 1. DeMya Walker (UVa.)   1996-99  122  330  2.7
 2. Dawn Royster (UNC)    1984-87  110  329  3.0
 3. Peggy Caple (Clemson) 1982-85  119  298  2.5

Walker Moving Up in NCAA Block Party

With her 330 career blocked shots, DeMya Walker ranks 10th in NCAA history in blocked shots. The all-time NCAA record is 428 blocks by Genia Miller (Cal State Fullerton, 1988-91).

Last Player, team                         Season GP  Blk
 1. Genia Miller (Cal State Fullerton)      1991 118 428
 2. Heidi Gillingham (Vanderbilt)           1994 128 413
 3. Rebecca Lobo (Connecticut)              1995 126 396
 4. Chris Enger (San Diego)                 1993  96 372
 5. Kara Wolters (Connecticut)              1997 137 370
 6. Angela Gorsica (Vanderbilt)             1997 127 368
 7. Trish Andrew (Michigan)                 1993 113 367
 8. Denise Hogue (College of Charleston)    1993 106 359
 9. Amy Lundquist (Loyola Marymount/DePaul) 1997 113 336
10. DeMya Walker (Virginia)                 1999 121 329

Walker Ends Career Ranked Third in Career Rebounds

DeMya Walker can add one more accomplishment to her career at UVa. She ends her career with 932 rebounds which puts her in a tie for third place in career rebounds with Cathy Grimes. She ranks 19th in the ACC in career boards. Walker averaged 7.6 rebounds for her career. Here is how she ranks among UVa's greatest rebounders:

 Reb.  Player             (years)        G
 1.    1221  Wendy Palmer (1993-96)      126
 2.     955  Heather Burge(1990-93)      135
 3.     932  Cathy Grimes (1982-85)      114
        932  DeMya Walker (1996-present) 122

Duo Combines For Best Shooting Performance

DeMya Walker and Lesley Brown shot a combined 17-17 (1.000) in Virginia's 102-44 win over Towson on Dec. 11 and recorded the top shooting performance in UVa history. Walker tied Wendy Palmer for the best individual shooting performance in school history with her 9-9 shooting from the field. Brown's 8-8 performance from the field completed the best shooting performance by a duo in any single game in UVa history.

In Palmer's 9-9 effort vs. Cleveland State on Nov. 29, 1995, Monick Foote was 5-5 from the field.

In the Towson game, Virginia shot 61.5 percent (40-65) the highest field goal percentage since Jan. 25, 1994 when the team shot 65.5 percent vs. Duke (36-55).