Women’s Basketball: Smithfield Commonwealth Clash game Tuesday in Blacksburg

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia women’s basketball team (3-10, 0-3 ACC) faces Virginia Tech (12-4, 4-1 ACC) in the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg.

Broadcast Information

• The game will be televised on the ACC Network and streamed online through ACCNX. ACCNX streams are available through participating TV providers that carry ACC Network and can be watched on the ESPN app and through WatchESPN
• All of the 2021-22 Virginia women’s basketball games are available locally on the radio on NewsRadio 1070 AM and 98.9 FM WINA
• Live stats will also be available for the game

 Virginia Notes

• This game was originally scheduled for Jan. 6
• Sunday’s scheduled game against Syracuse was postponed because of a snowstorm in Charlottesville. It was the fifth game in UVA’s last seven scheduled contests to be moved, canceled or postponed. Virginia Tech also postponed its Sunday home game against Clemson because of snow
• With the rescheduling of the Virginia Tech game to Tuesday, UVA will now play six games in a 13-day span. The Cavaliers and Hokies will play one another twice in 10 days
• The Cavaliers are coming off a 66-43 loss against No. 4 NC State on Thursday night. The Cavaliers held a nine-point lead in the first quarter and led for 7:37 of the contest, but NC State mounted a 20-1 run from the end of the first quarter into the second quarter to take control of the game
• UVA shot 80.0 percent in the fourth quarter, going 8-of-10 from the field. This was the highest single-quarter shooting percentage for the team since women’s basketball adopted the quarter system. The previous high was a 9-of-12 performance (75.0 percent) in the fourth quarter at Virginia Tech on Feb. 23, 2020
• Grad student center Eleah Parker had a season-best five blocked shots in the game. Parker ranked third in the country in blocked shots in 2018-19, averaging 3.19 per game. She tied the Penn single-season record that season with 99, which ranks second in the Ivy League record book
• Parker ranks 10th in the ACC in blocked shots per game at 1.33
• The seven blocked shots by the team was a season high. The previous high was five which they logged against JMU and William & Mary
• Grad student guard has taken over the team scoring lead averaging 12.9 points per game. Toi had a game-high 14 points against NC State. She has led the Cavaliers in scoring in each of the last seven games and eight of the last nine
• Toi continues to lead the ACC in minutes played per game at 36.1
• Junior guard Taylor Valladay ranks seventh in the ACC in assists per game at 3.6. She is also 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.39
• Valladay scored seven points against NC State, all in the first quarter

The Commonwealth Clash

• The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash, originally called the Commonwealth Challenge (2005-2007), has been a part of the UVA-Virginia Tech rivalry since 2014. It was an all-sports points-based program with the Commonwealth
• Clash trophy presented to the winning school each year for its dominance in head-to-head competitions. This game is worth 0.5 points.  The Hokies currently lead 3.0-1.5
• Virginia Tech has been ranked as high as No. 24 in the AP Poll this season
• The Hokies lead the ACC in made-three-pointers per game (8.9). Aisha Shepard leads that charge with 3.0 per game. Cayla King is shooting 42.3 percent from behind the arc
• Elizabeth Kitley is second in the ACC in scoring and rebounding, averaging 18.6 and 10.9 respectively
• Virginia leads the all-time series 51-14 and has won six of the last eight meetings
• In 2020, the teams split the contests with Virginia Tech winning in Charlottesville (69-61) and the Cavaliers coming out on top in Blacksburg (86-76)
• In that last meeting (2/23/20), the Cavaliers jumped out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter, but the Hokies came back to take a one-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Virginia shot over seventy percent from the field in the final 10 minutes to outscore Virginia Tech 22-13 and log the 10-point victory.
• Dominique Toussaint scored a career-high 29 points with fellow senior guard Jocelyn Willoughby matching that total while also grabbing 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the year. Aisha Sheppard of Virginia Tech scored 32 points, going 10-of-22 overall from the field and 8-of-15 from three-point range

On the Horizon

• Virginia has two more road games this week, playing at No. 21 North Carolina on Thursday, Jan. 20 and at No. 16 Duke on Sunday, Jan. 23. Both games tip at 6 p.m. with the latter being televised on the ACC Network
• The Cavaliers return home to host No. 20 Notre Dame on Tuesday, Jan. 25 in another rescheduled game