She's a preseason first team All-American. She's on the preseason Wade Watch List and Wooden Award List. As a junior, she was an AP Honorable Mention All-American, a WBCA Region 2 All-American and was a Naismith Trophy, Wade Trophy and Wooden Award finalist. Tonight, she became the all-time leading scorer for Virginia, with 2,140 points, breaking Dawn Staley's previous record by 5. Unfortunately, the Cavaliers fell to Maryland 60-61 on a blatant no-foul-call situation.
Wright's accolades don't end there. She was also first team All-ACC and led the ACC in scoring (20.5 points per game). She set the single-season UVa scoring record (696 points). As a sophomore, she was an AP Honorable Mention All-American, a WBCA Region 2 All-American, a second team All-ACC selection and a member of the ACC All-Tournament Team. She was the captain of the U-19 USA Basketball Team. As a freshman, she was the ACC’s Rookie of the Year and a Gballmag.com Young All-American. She was also the ACC Rookie of the Week a school-record eight times.
Wright finished with 20 points, and had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but was defended very closely and no foul was called.
The Terrapins (13-3, 1-1), coming off a 28-point loss at NC State, only let Virginia lead twice, both times briefly, and won despite turning the ball over 28 times. They also held the Cavaliers to just 30.8 percent shooting overall.
The Cavaliers (11-5, 0-2), who lost by 18 in their league opener at No. 16 Florida State, had several chances in the final minute, but came up short.
Telia McCall scored and was fouled with 11 seconds left to make it 61-60, but her foul shot missed. Maryland got the ball and Diandra Tchatchouang was fouled, but she missed both free throws.
The Cavaliers pushed the ball upcourt and called timeout with 3.1 seconds left. When they inbounded the ball to Wright, she was surrounded and tried a shot at the buzzer with the Terrapins converging. The shot had no chance, and no foul was called as Wright wound up prone on the floor in disbelief, the crowd jeering as the Terrapins quickly rushed off the court.
Earlier, Wright claimed the scoring mark on a 3-pointer from the right corner with 13:01 to play. It was followed quickly by a timeout, and a standing ovation from the crowd.
It also capped a 10-2 burst for the Cavaliers, pulling them to within 43-42, and 3 minutes later Chelsea Shine's free throw gave Virginia its first lead since very early.
"Monica is a special player to me and to this program," Coach Debbie Ryan lauded. "She has given her heart, her soul and her body. She has given us everything that she has every single minute, whether we are on or off the court. She gives and gives and gives. She exemplifies what the student-athlete is all about. She is very special in every way, shape and form. To have her have this record is tremendous. It is an awesome honor to how hard she has worked to put our program where it is today. I am very proud of her."
But after sloppy play on both sides, Kizer scored inside with 8:16 to play, Bjork hit her sixth 3-pointer to push the lead to 54-50 and the Cavaliers never got back to even again.
Wright and the Cavaliers look to rebound from this rocky ACC start next Monday to take on ACC rivals Virginia Tech on the road at 5:00 p.m.