Instant Takeaways From UVA Women’s Basketball Victory at Davidson

The Cavaliers are now 2-0, with their 72-57 win at Davidson as the latest addition to the win column.

Coach Aaron Roussell's unit took a while to get going, but once it did, Virginia left its hosts in the dust. The Cavaliers got double-digit outings from four of their five starters. Overall, it was an efficient outing. Virginia was two field goals away from shooting 50-40-90 as a team.

Here are takeaways from the Cavaliers' victory down in Davidson, N.C.:

Virginia started slowly again

Against UMES, the Cavaliers started out with some turnovers and missed looks. Tonight at Davidson, Virginia only led 37-33 at halftime. Sloppy fouls, a quiet three-point attack and inconsistent passes prevented the Cavaliers from taking over this game. Then they turned it around in the back half.

Virginia went on a 15-0 run to start the third quarter and never looked back.

Basketball is a game of momentum. The Cavaliers clearly have the ability to seize it, but they would probably like to see more of it early on.

The Cavaliers need more from their bench

After 37 minutes of play, Virginia's reserves combined for a total of zero points. That was primarily due to the fact that the six main reserves only attempted three shots, but that's even more unorthodox given those reserves combined to play more than 51 minutes.

Yes, Kymora Johnson will command a heavy usage. She should. But it would probably behoove the coaching staff to find more than seven percent of the team's shots for the bench, especially before the heart of ACC play.

The hierarchy continues to evolve

This is Johnson's team, no question. However, the rest of the rotation is still taking shape. The clear No. 2 seems to be fifth-year VCU transfer Mary-Anna Asare, and Breona Hurd looks like the third option.

Johnson, Asare, Hurd and Caterina Piatti are the only Cavaliers to have started both games this season. Janae Walker started the season opener, but tonight, she was replaced by Sintija Aukštikalnytė.

At center, Piatti played a near-even minutes split with Ring.

The next few games will provide a better insight

Virginia is 2-0. But it has yet to face any high-major competition. The first valuable test doesn't come until a Nov. 23 contest against Oklahoma down in Jacksonville, Fla. at the Jacksonville Classic.

Until then, it will be difficult to draw any clear conclusions about this team in the early stages of the 2026-27 campaign.

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