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BY GREG WATERS H EAD COACH JOANNE BOYLE is hoping some key returning players and some highly touted new additions to the team will make a difference for the UVA women's basketball program in 2016-17. The Cavaliers are coming off a season that saw them post an 18-16 record, finish ninth in the ACC and advance to the quarterfinals of the WNIT. With that in mind, the league's coaches projected the Hoos to finish 10th in this year's preseason poll. However, there is reason for optimism. Boyle returns seven letter winners from last season, including two members of the starting lineup — fourth-year guard Brey- ana Mason and third-year forward Lauren Moses. In addition, third-year guard Aliyah Huland El — the Cavaliers' first player of the bench last season, who appeared in ev- ery game with 10 starts while averaging 9.6 points in 25.1 minutes per game — is back. The new additions include four true first- years and a redshirt first-year, including the Gatorade High School State Players of the Year from both New York and New Jersey in Dominique Toussaint, a 5-9 guard, and Jocelyn Willoughby, a 6-0 guard. Toussaint, who attended USA Basketball U18 National Team Trials this summer, was also 2016 Miss New York Basketball. The other newcomers are 6-9 center Feli- cia Aiyeotan, 6-3 forward Lisa Jablonowski and 6-1 redshirt forward Shakyna Payne. Aiyeotan is a native of Lagos, Nigeria, but attended Nuemann Goretti High in Phila- delphia, winning the national title when the team went 30-0 her junior season, before transferring to Blair Academy in New Jersey for her senior year. Boyle admits that you really can't be sure if high school success translates to the col- legiate level, but Virginia's head coach likes what she sees thus far. "You don't know until you get in there, and they start playing and you see how they handle that when the lights are on," the coach noted. "But I will tell you in the time that we've had with them and the scrim- mages, they hold their own." Huland El agrees with her coach that the rookies are figuring things out. "The new players have adjusted very well. They're all hard workers, and they're all in tune with what we're trying to accomplish at UVA," Huland El said. TALENT INFUSION Touted Newcomers Join With Veterans To Boost The Cavaliers