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and fourth in both rebounds (3.1 per game) and assists (1.8 per game). "The great thing about Faith is she doesn't care what her role is," head coach Joanne Boyle told reporters earlier this season. "She just wants to win. You need a strong sixth man to be able to come off the bench. She's really filling that role and really doing a great job with it. She's in a little bit of a rhythm offensively right now." With a relatively young squad, Boyle has found herself tinkering with the Cavaliers' lineup throughout much of the first half of the 2013-14 season. And while Randolph has started a few games while Virginia dealt with injuries, it's became clear that despite putting up a starter's numbers, Randolph serves the Cavs best by coming off the bench, a position from which she has the size and athleticism to spell just about anyone on the floor and provide an instant spark offensively. "On this team, I'm doing whatever we need to win," said Randolph, who started four of UVa's first 16 games this season. "I'm just looking to help my team, whether that's scoring or getting a stop. We're just running the offense. When I see a shot that I think I can make, I take it." As of mid-January, Randolph was averaging 12.1 points per game, second on the Cavaliers only to Ataira Franklin's 12.8. Randolph's numbers included a team-high 23-point performance Jan. 12 in a 79-72 loss to No. 2 Notre Dame, which had been defeating opponents by an average of 30 points before visiting Charlottesville. Her teammates can certainly feel the difference Randolph brings when she checks into the game. "I know she is going to bring that energy and that intensity," third-year forward Sarah Imovbioh said. "She will drive really hard to the basket." The Cavs, intent on making a return to the NCAA Tournament, aren't a team looking for moral victories, but their performance against the powerful Fighting Irish had Randolph and her teammates believing they could do well against a i18-19.Faith Randolph.indd 3 tough conference schedule. "It's just the feeling that we can play against anybody," she said. "We love opportunities like this. Notre Dame is second in the country and we can go up against them. We have this stretch of all ranked teams and we're just going to go at it." Despite considerable talent, success hasn't necessarily come easily for Randolph, who took a few days off after her first season on The Grounds ended before beginning an intense offseason regimen, including one-on-one sessions with UVa strength and conditioning coach Jeremy Anderson. The result was Randolph entering this season about 15 pounds leaner and with added strength. "You don't have to challenge Faith," Boyle told VirginiaSports.com. "She's so self-motivated. She analyzes herself and she critiques herself better than most people. She knew she had to shoot the ball better for us, so she spent time in the gym doing that. "She'll go above and beyond before you even have to talk to her about it. She works harder than anybody on her game. It's going to pay off for her." A debut season that could best be described as fair for both Randolph and the Cavaliers was a huge motivating factor. "Last year was really a driver for me, because I knew I wanted to get better and I wanted to help this team get better," said Randolph, who averaged 5.0 points and 1.6 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per contest during the 16-14 campaign. "The season we had wasn't what I wanted. I wanted something better, and I knew as a team we could be better, so I really tried to work hard." And there's little doubt the hard work has paid off as she fits in nicely to her new role. "When I come off the bench, I try to see what we need," she said. "I'm just here to contribute, whether that's offensively or defensively. When my shot gets going, I feel pretty good." As do Cavalier fans watching. ◆ 1/16/14 12:08 PM