Virginia Pulls Away from GW in 4th Quarter, Coach Mox Wins Big in Debut
The Amaka Agugua-Hamilton era of Virginia women's basketball began with an emphatic victory. But it required the Cavaliers to bounce back after taking some early punches from the visiting Colonials.
After trailing by as many as six points in the third quarter, Virginia outscored George Washington 31-9 in the fourth quarter and rolled to an 85-59 win in the season-opener on Monday night at John Paul Jones Arena.
UVA got off to a hot start, with Camryn Taylor and Kaydan Lawson combining for 18 points on 8/10 shooting in the opening quarter. But George Washington absorbed the early run and cut the deficit to just two points as UVA led 19-17 after the first ten minutes. The Cavaliers quickly established a presence down low, with 12 of their 17 points coming in the paint.
The Hoos experienced an offensive lull in the second quarter, shooting just 3/17 from the field. George Washington took advantage of UVA's offensive struggles to outscore the Cavaliers 17-11 in the period and take a 34-30 lead into the intermission.
Whatever Coach Mox told her team in the locker room changed the course of the game. Virginia went on a 12-4 run to open the third quarter, taking a 42-38 lead. George Washington’s Mia Lakstigala, Essence Brown, and Asjah Innis all made three pointers in a span of two minutes to take the lead back, but a 49-47 score was the last time the Colonials would lead in this game. After three quarters, UVA led 54-50.
The fourth quarter was a thing of beauty for Virginia, outscoring George Washington 31-9 and shooting 12/17 (70.6%) from the field. This included 16 points in the paint and four three-pointers on eight attempts. It seemed like the Cavaliers kicked into another gear in the fourth quarter, with speedy transition opportunities leading to easy baskets. Virginia made one layup after another off of fast breaks, and only had one turnover in the quarter.
In the end, the Cavaliers shot 44.1% from the field and 34.6% from three, which are promising stats for a season-opener. They also got to the free throw line consistently and shot 16/21 from the charity stripe. After nine turnovers in the first half - that can probably be attributed to some nerves - the Cavaliers played a clean second half with only two turnovers.
After getting outrebounded by the Colonials 26-24 in the first half, Virginia bounced back in a big way in the second half on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 29-10 after halftime. UVA finished with 17 offensive rebounds and 36 defensive rebounds. Overall, the Cavaliers outrebounded the Colonials 53-36 for the game. Virginia also added 19 assists compared to George Washington’s six, a good sign of the early chemistry that already exists on this team.
Nine different Cavaliers scored in the game, including five players in double figures. Camryn Taylor led the way with a 22-point, 13-rebound double-double. Kaydan Lawson added 18 pints and nine rebounds and knocked down four of her seven three-point attempts. Taylor Valladay had 12 points and four assists, while Carole Miller and Sam Brunelle each had ten points.
Virginia looked to be in for a dogfight at halftime, but the Cavaliers turned the game into a blowout in the fourth quarter to give Coach Mox a win in her debut at UVA.
Virginia will look to start the season 2-0 when UMBC comes to JPJ on Thursday at 7pm.
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