Kymora Johnson Scores 33 Points, UVA Women's Basketball Beats Stanford 89-69

Virginia women's basketball (14-14, 6-10 ACC) earned an 89-69 victory over Stanford (14-13, 6-10 ACC) in the final home game of the regular season on Sunday night at John Paul Jones Arena. Let's break down some key takeaways from UVA's victory.

Kymora Johnson reaches 1,000 points, nearly notches another triple-double

One week after joining Dawn Staley as the only players in the history of the Virginia women's basketball program to record a triple double, Kymora Johnson nearly repeated that feat as she came just two rebounds shy of another triple-double. This was still an incredibly impressive performance from Johnson and maybe her best game of the season, as she finished with a season-high 33 points, just two points shy of her career-high, dished out 12 assists, collected eight rebounds, and also had two steals and a block while playing all 40 minutes of the game. Johnson scored 15 of those points in the fourth quarter, as she knocked down six of her final seven shots in that period, including a trio of three-pointers and a reverse layup that gave her 1,000 career points in just her 60th career game.

Virginia gets off to a fast start

We've written about it ad nauseam this season, but slow starts have been one of the biggest problems for the Cavaliers this season. Well, it wasn't a problem on Sunday, as Virginia opened its final home game of the season on a 19-3 run, didn't allow Stanford to make a field goal until the 5:14 mark of the first quarter, and won the first quarter 25-9. The Cardinal made just three shots in the first period, as the Hoos were locked in on both ends of the floor right from the opening tipoff. Virginia finally played its full 40-minute game Coach Mox and Co. have been searching for all year, but getting off to the fast start was arguably the most important component of reaching that objective.

Read Val's Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.

Latasha Lattimore responds to the challenge

The last seven games have been something of a roller coaster for Latasha Lattimore. She went for 25 and 26 points in back-to-back games, then scored eight points in consecutive games before bouncing back with a career-high 30 points in the win at Pittsburgh. But then Lattimore was held to six points in Thursday's loss to Cal. Coach Mox said she challenged Lattimore to respond and Lattimore did just that, scoring 12 points on 5/5 shooting in the first quarter and finished with a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double and missed only two shots the entire game. Challenge completed.

Virginia plays its cleanest game of the season

Turnovers have been a major issue for the Cavaliers this season. Part of UVA's 40 minutes of excellence was a season-low nine turnovers, including just three turnovers in the second half. Virginia also only had 10 turnovers against Cal on Thursday. Maybe this could be a slightly too late, but still encouraging trend for the Cavaliers entering the postseason?

ACC big picture

At 6-10 in ACC play, Virginia is now tied for 10th in the conference standings. The Cavaliers have not locked up a spot in the ACC Tournament quite yet, but they're in pretty good shape now and could potentially earn a bye to the second round if they finish strong in the final two games of the regular season.

Up next, Virginia completes the three-game stretch against each of the ACC's newest members on the road at SMU on Thursday at 8pm ET.

More UVA Women's Basketball News & Content

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Can’t Overcome Cal

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The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Closes on 31-15 Run to Down Pitt

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