Ask any UVA basketball fan who the dynamic duo is and they’ll likely tell you Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds. Rightfully so. But give those fine people a heads up on the emerging triple threat of Sharneé Zoll, Brenna McGuire and freshman Monica Wright.
Nine games into her 30th year as head coach of UVA women’s basketball, Debbie Ryan is noticing that her freshman addition has increased the game of two veterans. Wright (along with Aisha Mohammed, who is out for the season with a preseason injury) was a prized recruit.
 Freshmen Monica Wright was named ACC Rookie of the Week after nabbing 26 points in a 71-65 win over Temple and 15 points in an 85-66 win over Seton Hall. |
In postgame comments following the team’s December 2 win over Seton Hall, Ryan said, “Monica adds so much athleticism, and she can actually pass the ball as well. So Monica actually finds Brenna a lot when Brenna’s really comfortable shooting. Monica really looks for her.”
Ryan acknowledged that Wright’s passing can often be low and needs a little work, but said that as she gets more comfortable and better with her balance, she’ll be really good at finding Brenna. “Then Monica could guard some of the better players,” said Ryan, which would take some pressure off of Zoll. “She [Monica] brings so much to the table that it helps both those players get a little bit of rest.”
Meanwhile, McGuire, coming off a 17-point night against the Pirates and 12 points the previous weekend against Central Florida, is still looking for consistency, but the connection with Wright appears to be growing. And Zoll, still posting the ACC’s best stats, looks to be playing at an even more aggressive level this season. That’s hard to believe considering that the junior from New Jersey is already known, nationwide, for her ferociousness.
“When we run back on defense and I look at her eyes,” said Wright, “I feed off her eyes because it’s like there’s fire in her eyes.”
For Zoll, the feeling is mutual: “With all respect to my teammates, it’s a lot easier [this season] to know that you have someone behind you who is willing to do anything to get to it done,” said Zoll of Wright after the Seton Hall win. “The pace [of the game] gets faster and faster as Monica runs. She attacks the basket so quick, it forces the other team to get back on their heels and run and it makes it easier for me. Five steals [in the Seton Hall game]? She gets like 20 in practice. She’s so strong and fearless; once she gets acclimated to the college game even more, the better she’ll get. Kind of scary isn’t it?”
Zoll says she hopes to aid in Wright’s education as well as in that of the rest of her team. In doing so she seems to have taken on a new task this season. If you look at the bench, for the few moments Zoll’s on it, you can see a coach in the making.
“I think that’s exactly where Sharneé will end up is being a college coach as soon as her playing career is over,” said Ryan after the Seton Hall win. “When I lit into the group tonight…she was the good cop, I was the bad cop. She grabbed them after I had them in the huddle and reminded them how good they are and how they can do this and things like that. They needed to be coached and I coached them. But I was a little harsh and she picked them up and that’s the way we do things.”
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