Miami Set for Road Game at Virginia Tech
Jan. 8, 2011
Miami (15-1) at Virginia Tech (9-6)
Date & Tip Time: Sunday, Jan. 9, at 2 p.m.
Location: Blacksburg, Va. | Cassell Coliseum
TV: None
Radio: WVUM 90.5 – wvum.org
Video Stream: HokieSports.com/AllAccess
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
GAMEDAY
Three days after opening its ACC schedule with a win at Virginia, the University of Miami women’s basketball team heads to Blacksburg, Va. to take on Virginia Tech Sunday at Cassell Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
TICKETS
Season tickets are available for as low as $50. Tickets may be purchased online at HurricaneSports.com or by calling the UM Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-CANES.
Single-game tickets are also available for $5 for adults and $3 for children. UM students receive free admission when presenting their valid Cane Card.
THE TEAMS
Miami opened the Atlantic Coast Conference slate with an 83-73 victory over Virginia on Thursday.
Shenise Johnson, the reigning ACC Player of the Week, scored 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her third straight double-double and the seventh of the season.
Virginia Tech fell to No. 24/19 Florida State on Thursday in its ACC opener. Monet Tellier scored a team-best 11 points in the loss.
Sunday’s game will be the Hokie’s 1,000th as a women’s basketball program. Virginia Tech’s next two opponents – Miami and No. 3 Duke have a combined record of 30-1.
Shenise Johnson’S BIG WEEK
In claiming her third career ACC Player of the Week award, Shenise Johnson may have had the best week of her collegiate career. In back-to-back wins over Morgan State and Lipscomb, the junior guard matched a career-best with 11 made field goals – scoring 22 and 25 points respectively. She also grabbed 10 boards apiece in those games, recording her fifth and sixth double-doubles of the season – most in the ACC among guards.
GETTING CLOSER
The Hurricanes have received votes in both the AP and ESPN/Coaches Poll for several weeks this season. However, in the latest polls, Miami has received more votes than any other time this season. The `Canes sit just two spots outside the Top 25 in the AP Poll and just four out of the ESPN/Coaches Poll.
MIAMI HOLIDAY CLASSIC CHAMPS
The Hurricanes won Miami Holiday Classic at the BankUnited Center with decisive wins over George Washington and Morgan State.
Junior Shenise Johnson was named the classic’s MVP while Riquna Williams and Stefanie Yderstrom were named to the Miami Holiday All-Classic Team.
Tamara James’ HONORED JERSEY
The greatest player in Miami women’s basketball history had her jersey honored prior to the Morgan State game on Dec. 30.
Tamara James’ jersey is just the third to be honored at Miami, joining Maria Rivera (1984-88) and Frances Savage (1988-92).
James still holds the school scoring record at 2,406 points. The South Florida native is the only player from the University of Miami to be taken in the first round of the WNBA Draft, going to the Washington Mystics as the seventh overall pick in 2006.
NOS. 1 AND 2
As of Jan. 6, Miami junior Riquna Williams was leading the ACC with 19.7 points per game. In the conference the closest person to her is fellow teammate Shenise Johnson, who is scoring 19.1 points per game.
JOHNSON: ALL-AROUND PLAYER
Everyone knows that Miami junior Shenise Johnson is a great talent. However, there are plenty of numbers to back that up. As was the case last season, Johnson is currently the only player in the ACC to rank in the Top 10 in scoring, rebounding and assists. Below are some of her conference rankings.
19.1 ppg – 2nd
8.5 rpg – 4th
.525 field goal % – 9th
3.8 apg – 6th
.903 free throw % – 1st
3.4 spg – 2nd
1.6 assist/turnover ratio – 6th
CHAT WITH FELLOW `CANES
Log onto HurricaneSports.com during Miami athletic events to chat with Miami insiders and other fans about the game and your favorite student-athletes. To join the chat, click on the Cover It Live program found online with each game’s preview beginning 30 minutes before tip-off.
A WINNING STATEMENT
The Hurricanes 81-72 overtime win over No. 11 Georgetown on Dec. 7 was the first against a ranked non-conference opponent since Dec. 29, 2005, when Miami defeated No. 25 Ole Miss, 79-70, in the Hurricane Holiday Classic.
ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK PT. 2
Riquna Williams earned the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week honor as announced by the conference office on Dec. 27.
The honor is the fourth in Williams’ career after winning the award earlier this season (Dec. 13) and twice as a sophomore. The Pahokee, Fla. native scored a season-high tying 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting in Miami’s convincing 82-46 victory at Ole Miss on Dec. 21.
Williams earner her first player of the week accolade earlier in the season after scoring a game-high 23 points in a win over No.11 Georgetown (Dec.7), while grabbing six rebounds and swatting away a pair of shots. Williams also scored a game-high 18 points in Miami’s lopsided victory over Alcorn State on Dec. 11.
With her four weekly awards, Williams joins Boston College’s Carolyn Swords for the most ACC Player of the Week awards among active players.
IN THE RPI
Miami is one of seven ACC teams that ranks among the Top 50 in the latest RPI rankings.
Rank Team SS SS Rk RPI
1. Duke 65.5 3 75.1
10. Maryland 55.3 56 65.7
20. Florida State 57.6 52 63.1
30. Georgia Tech 56.7 67 61.3
35. North Carolina 41.3 258 61
37. Miami 48.6 161 60.8
51. Boston College 42.8 240 59.3
63. Virginia 56.8 68 58.4
111. NC State 52.7 112 53.3
118. Virginia Tech 49.4 185 52.5
145. Clemson 58.1 80 50.7
165. Wake Forest 50.6 198 49.4
A BIG WIN
Miami was dominant in its 82-46 win over Ole Miss on Dec. 18. In fact, the 36-point margin of victory was the largest ever in a game against a BCS Conference opponent on the road and the most in any game since an 80-43 win at home against St. John’s on Feb. 14, 2001.
TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
The `Canes won their own Thanksgiving Tournament for the fifth time in the last six years. Morgan Stroman was the named the tourney MVP as Miami cruised to wins over FAU and UNC Greensboro. Shenise Johnson was also named to the all-tournament team.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB
In a special ceremony prior to the UAB game on Nov. 22, Shenise Johnson and Riquna Williams were recognized by Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt and head coach Katie Meier for scoring their 1,000th career-points.
Johnson reached the benchmark during Miami’s WNIT quarterfinal matchup at Providence with a career-best 33-point performance. Williams surpassed the threshold in an 18-point effort against Miami (OH) on Nov. 20.
Johnson currently sits in 10th place all-time at Miami with 1,349 career points and needs 56 points to pass Vicki Plowden (1990-93) for ninth place. With 1,225 points, Williams ranks 13th all-time.
INSIDE THE PROGRAM
The 2010-11 women’s basketball season will be the first to offer multiple social media outlets for fans and loyal supporters of the program to keep current with the Hurricanes.
You can follow all University of Miami teams on Twitter by visiting twitter.com/hurricanesports or follow just women’s basketball at twitter.com/miamiwbb. Fans can also check out HurricaneSports and University of Miami Women’s Basketball on facebook.com to get up-to-date news and information on the women’s basketball program.
HurricaneSports.com will also have all the most recent bio information and stats for all the team’s players.
For even more exclusive content – including video interviews, photos and more – be sure to visit the UWomen’s Hoops Blog at
uwomenshoops.tumblr.com.
JOHNSON ALL-ACC
Miami guard Shenise Johnson was named to the Preseason All-ACC team as announced by the conference office on Oct. 26 from the ACC Women’s Basketball Media Day held at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Johnson becomes the first Hurricane since Tamara James in 2005 to be named a preseason all-conference member.
Duke’s Jasmine Thomas was named the Preseason Player of the Year.
Preseason Player of the Year
Jasmine Thomas, Sr., G, Duke
2010-11 Preseason All-ACC Team
Jessica Breland, Sr., F, North Carolina
Shenise Johnson, Jr., G, Miami
Carolyn Swords, Sr., C, Boston College
Jasmine Thomas, Sr., G, Duke
Courtney Ward, Sr., G, Florida State
THREE-POINT STREAK
With four three-pointers against Virginia, the Hurricanes have made at least one three-point field goal in 308 straight games dating back to the 2000-01 season.
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR?
University of Miami junior guards Riquna Williams and Shenise Johnson have been named to the 2010-11 Naismith Preseason Watch List as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
Williams, known as `Fire’ for her explosiveness and ability to score in bunches is garnering national attention for the first time in her impressive career. Johnson, who has embraced the moniker `Ice’, because of her calm, cool and collected playing style, had previously been named to the Wade and Wooden Preseason Watch Lists.
Never before in program history has a pair of teammates been named to the list, but Johnson and Williams may come to expect national attention like this more often. In arguably the best women’s basketball conference in the country, the duo finished the 2009-10 season as the second- and third-best scorers in the ACC – Williams with 19.6 and Johnson with 19.0. Johnson was also the only player in the conference to rank among the Top 10 in scoring, rebounding (7.7 rpg) and assists (4.6 apg) from her guard position.
In late February, the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors will compile a mid-season team of the top 30 players in the nation. Then in March, the Naismith Trophy voting academy will vote to narrow the list to the four finalists.
GIMME THAT
With an average of 15.4 steals per game, the Hurricanes rank second in the nation. Shenise Johnson gets her hand in on 3.4 thefts per game, while Riquna Williams and Morgan Stroman are close behind with 3.3 and 3.2 per outing respectively. Stefanie Yderstrom, Sylvia Bullock, Krystal Saunders and Shanel Williams each average one or more steals per game and as a team, Miami has scored 29.6 points per game off of turnovers – compared to only 12.3 from its opponents.
DOUBLE-FIGURE STREAK
With a season-high 30 points against Virginia, Shenise Johnson has now scored in double-figures in 53 straight games – the highest active streak of any Atlantic Coast Conference player.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Hurricanes are a perfect 13-0 at home this season and have won 17 consecutive games inside the BankUnited Center dating back to the `Canes regular season-finale overtime win over Boston College on Feb. 28, 2010.
The 17 straight wins at home is tied for the second-longest home winning streak in program history and is the longest since the 1997-1998 through 1998-99 seasons.
The longest home winning streak came during the 1990-91 through 1992-93 season. That streak spanned 24 games.
WINNING STREAK
Miami has won 14 straight games overall – the second longest streak in program history. The Hurricanes have only reached a winning streak of at least 10 games five times previously and its the first such streak for the `Canes since the 1992-93 season, when they won 10 consecutive games.
The longest winning streak in team history occurred during the 1991-92 season, when Miami won 30 straight games.
`CANES INK THREE TO 2011 CLASS
The Hurricanes have signed Michelle Woods of Naples, Fla., junior college transfer Jessica Capers of Gastonia, N.C. and Tyler Hobgood of Oxford, N.C. to their 2011 incoming class.
Woods, out of Naples Community School has been ranked as high as the No. 44 overall prospect by ESPN HoopGurlz and as the 10th best shooting guard by All Star Girls’ Report.
Capers signed to play at West Virginia in 2007, but a knee injury sidelined her for her freshman season. During the Mountaineers’ 2009-10 campaign, the 6-2 forward saw action in 18 games, but she decided to transfer to Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla. at the conclusion of the season.
Capers is ranked as the No. 3 overall junior college power forward in the country and 10th overall JC prospect according to the Dan Olson Collegiate Report.
Hobgood, a 6-1 power forward from JF Webb High School enters her senior season with a long list of accolades. She has already been named an all-conference performer on three occasions and has led her league in rebounding each of the last three seasons. Behind her aggressive play, JF Webb has won its conference’s regular season championship three straight years.
You can follow all University of Miami teams on Twitter by visiting twitter.com/hurricanesports or follow just women’s basketball at twitter.com/miamiwbb . Visit HurricaneSports.com and Miami Hurricanes Women’s Basketball on facebook to get all the up-to-date news and information on the women’s basketball team.
