Valladay Drops 19, UVA Women's Basketball Beats American to Remain Unbeaten
When a team shoots 39% from the field and 15% from beyond the arc, it is pretty tough to win a basketball game. However, the Cavaliers found a way to make that happen and their method was grabbing 23 offensive rebounds and forcing 23 turnovers. Those advantages allowed UVA to take 22 more shots than American, which led to the victory.
In a game that was close for three quarters, the Cavaliers used a dominant fourth quarter to push the game to a 20-point lead, and Virginia ultimately went on to beat American 74-60 on Sunday afternoon in Washington, D.C. to remain undefeated on the season.
UVA has had some sluggish starts in games so far this season and this game was no exception. American took an early lead in the first quarter, but a Sam Brunelle three-pointer helped give the Cavaliers their first lead at 11-10. After a three minute scoring drought, the UVA finished the quarter strong to take a 20-16 lead.
The Cavaliers used six offensive rebounds in the first quarter to get second chance opportunities after only shooting 7/19 (36.8%) from the field. Both teams had five turnovers in the first quarter, a trend that continued throughout the game. Seven different Cavaliers had points in the first quarter.
The two teams scored 15 points apiece in the second quarter, as the teams kept it close. Virginia continued to crash the boards with six offensive rebounds in the second quarter, giving them 12 in total for the first half. Virginia led by as many as nine points after a Taylor Valladay layup gave the Hoos a 30-21 lead, but then American battled back towards the end of the quarter. Emily Johns had eight early points for the Eagles and Sam Brunelle added seven for the Cavaliers, and Virginia led 35-31 after the first twenty minutes.
American pulled within two early in the third quarter after a layup, but then the Cavaliers put together a 11-4 run to take a 46-37 lead. The shooting woes for the Cavaliers continued, but working hard on the offensive glass and scoring points off of turnovers allowed them to orchestrate the run.
Virginia was 5/19 (26.3%) from the field in the third quarter compared to American’s 5/12 (41.7%), but those extra seven shots were crucial. Despite American shooting a much better percentage than the ice-cold Cavaliers, they still outscored the Eagles in the third quarter and led 50-44 heading into the final period.
Cady Pauley came off the bench at the start of the fourth quarter and drained a three-pointer, the team’s third make on 17 attempts in the game. From there, Taylor Valladay had four points and the Cavaliers put together a 9-0 run to open the quarter and force American to call a timeout.
The timeout didn’t help much, as UVA put together a dominant fourth quarter to turn what was a close game into a 19-point lead with three minutes remaining. Taylor Valladay continued to take over the game, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter alone.
The fourth quarter was much more efficient for the Cavaliers, as they shot 10/19 (52.6%) from the field, aided by 12 points off of six Eagles turnovers.
This has been a pattern in several of the early women’s basketball games this season, where the game is close for a long period of time, and then the Cavaliers light it up in the second half and make the game a blowout.
Taylor Valladay finished with 19 points and added three steals to pace the Cavaliers. Sam Brunelle had 13 points, and Mir McLean had 11 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. All 11 players who saw the court were able to score points, which continues to be a promising sign of UVA's roster depth this season.
The Hoos will return home on Wednesday night to face Campbell, looking to move to 6-0 on the season.
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