Cavaliers Now

The ACC Kickoff Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Downs Boston College

Sa’Myah Smith’s first game of the season proves triumphant as Virginia beats Boston College handily 81 – 55.
Val Prochaska|
Sa'Myah Smith
Sa'Myah Smith | Virginia Athletics

Plus

A win is a win is a win, and as of this opening weekend in the ACC, the Cavaliers are first in the ACC.  Of course, they are tied with Syracuse, Notre Dame, Louisville and Duke, but 1st is still 1st!  And we’ll be locked in at first until at least December 28th.

Plus

This was the 1000th victory in program history!

Minus

While Boston College has been bottom of the table for years, they have been one of the more engaging teams in the ACC.  Three ACC conference tournaments in a row, they have played, and won, the most exciting game of each tournament.  But Dontavia Waggoner has graduated, Teya Sidberry transferred to Texas, and T’Yana Todd similarly decamped to Ohio State.  That’s too much talent to lose, especially when coupled with long-term injuries to newcomers (both bigs) Kennedy Hall and Eleanor Trout.  This is, sadly, a very bad BC team.

Plus

Sa’Myah Smith entered the game three minutes into the first quarter.  Second time she touched the ball, she drained a three.  A minute later, she drained a second.  Smith ended up with 12 points in 15 minutes in her return to the hardwood.  Smith brings a pedigree – three years with LSU and banging in practice with Angel Resse and Flau’Jae Johnson – that no one else on the team has.

Plus

This was already a big team with 6’ 5” Adeang Ring, 6’ 4” Tabitha Amanze, 6’ 4” Caitlin Weimar, 6’ 3” Romi Levy and now 6’ 2” Sa’Myah Smith.  Both Breonna Hurd and Olivia McGhee are listed at 6’ 2” and I have to tell you that Smith looks much taller than both of them.  And she’s longer.  I think Levy has the skill set to play the 3, and if that were to be the case, coach Agugua-Hamilton can throw a lot of height on the court.

Plus

Six Cavaliers – Kymora Johnson, Paris Clark, Smith, Levy, Amanze and Gabby White – all scored in double figures.  That’s a lot of points from a lot of different spots on the court.

Plus

Me!  Last game out against Vanderbilt, I wrote:  Shout out to Caitlin Weimar who is now the only active player in America with 1500 points and 1000 rebounds.  Virginia has two more cupcakes remaining on the schedule, Howard and Winthrop.  I’d like to see her get the starts in those two games to see if maybe she be getting starter’s minutes at the 5.

Lo and behold, coach Mox started Weimar.  Unfortunately, Weimar didn’t cover herself in glory with the starting nod, but I still see this flexibility as a plus.

Plus

Amanze took being demoted to the second unit personally, it seems.  She had an eleven-point, ten-rebound double-double, with five of those rebounds coming on the offensive glass.  Most importantly to me, she entered the game shooting just under 60% from the free throw line where she was a perfect 5/5.

Plus

Virginia entered the game leading the ACC in blocks at 7.7 per game.  They had 9, led by Levy’s three.  The Hoos are also leading the ACC in rebounding margin with a 15.6 rebound differential.  They were plus-13 on the glass.

Next Up:  It’s back to cupcakes as Virginia hosts Howard on Wednesday, December 10th at 7:00pm.  The game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

Published
Val Prochaska
VAL PROCHASKA

Val graduated from the University of Virginia in the last millennium, back when writing one's senior thesis by hand was still a thing. He is a lifelong fan of the ACC, having chosen the Tobacco Road conference ahead of the Big East. Again, when that was still a thing. Val has covered Virginia men's basketball for nine years, first with HoosPlace and then with StreakingTheLawn, before joining us here at Virginia Cavaliers on SI in August of 2023, continuing to cover UVA men's basketball and also writing about women's soccer and women's basketball.

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