Nov. 24, 2008

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Virginia's Monica Wright and North Carolina's Chay Shegog were named Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Basketball Player and Rookie of the Week after leading their respective squads to upset wins in just the second week of women's basketball action. Wright had a career-high 35 points and eight rebounds to lead the No. 16 Cavaliers to an impressive 83-82 victory over No. 6 Tennessee in Knoxville before a crowd of 11,627. Shegog posted a double-digit scoring performance to lead the No. 4 Tar Heels also to a one-point escape with a 80-79 win over No. 2 Oklahoma in the title game of the Women's Preseason NIT.

Wright tallied 58 points and 10 rebounds in a pair of games for the Virginia women's basketball team last week. The junior from Woodbridge, Va., began the week with a career-high 35-point, 8-rebound performance on Monday against the Tennessee Volunteers. The guard made 14-of-26 field goal attempts, including four-of-five shots from three-point range to spark the Cavalier offense. In addition, Wright had five steals to lead the Cavs to their second victory in 13 meetings with the Lady Vols. The loss was just the 19th at home by a Tennessee history since the opening of Thompson-Boling Arena in 1987.

The 2006 ACC Rookie of the Year followed Monday's showing with a team-high 23-point outing at No. 25 Old Dominion. Despite Wright's jumper in transition with 1:25 left in the game to cut the Old Dominion lead to three, 71-68, the Cavaliers would get no closer. Wright also added one steal and one block against the Monarchs. Wright averaged 29.0 points per game for the week as the Cavaliers went 1-1 on the road against ranked teams.

Shegog averaged 10 points, two blocks, one steal and one assist in three games for No. 4 North Carolina. The McDonald's All-American had 18 points and 12 rebounds in a pair of wins for the Heels (Kennesaw State & Xavier), advancing the squad to the Preseason Women's NIT title game. The turning point against the No. 23 Musketeers came in the middle of the second half, when UNC when on a 14-0 run, sparked by Shegog's critical steal and layup, to take a 62-53 lead and control of the game.

In the WNIT championship game, the center from Stafford, Va., had the best game of her young career, tallying 12 points and six rebounds in an upset win at No. 2 Oklahoma. The newcomer was five-for-eight from the line and two-of-three for the charity stripe.

ACC action continues this evening as two league squads host early non-conference opponents. Winston-Salem State visits Wake Forest at 5 p.m., while the Cavaliers welcome Colorado for a 7 p.m. tilt.