The Plus/Minus: Cinderella Crashes out of the Sweet 16 as Virginia Falls to TCU

Minus

Virginia certainly played a lot of basketball to get here: 15 quarters and three games in five days. It was probably naïve to expect that the Cavaliers would hang with a relatively well-rested TCU team. Olivia Miles (28 points) and Marta Suarez (33 points) both of whom should have been familiar to the Hoos, put on a clinic that Virginia couldn’t stop.

Plus

Virginia was up 21 – 17 at the end of one and 36 – 35 at the half. Virginia had an amazing 17 points off of six first-quarter turnovers. (TCU’s Clara Silva looked very much the part of the 6’ 7” stiff who’s only playing basketball because she’s, well, she’s 6’ 7”.) Silva committed four turnovers during one five-possession stretch and the Hoos capitalized on every one of them. Virginia was 4/5 from deep and looking every bit the team that belonged in the Sweet 16.

Plus

Paris Clark certainly gave her all in her last collegiate game, scoring a team-high 20 points on an efficient 6/10 shooting performance (2/3 from deep and 6/7 from the foul line.) She attacked the paint on offense (3 assists) and was the only option on the offensive end other than Kymora Johnson.

Minus

As good as Clark was on the offensive end, it was the results on the defensive end that will give Clark a lifetime of nightmares. Olivia Miles simply toyed with Clark all game long, scoring 28 points on 11/14 shooting as well as dropping eight dimes on the night. It made sense to put Clark on Miles, she’s the team’s best on-ball defender after all, but it was cat-and-mouse at the top of the key. Clark struggled to stay on Miles in front of the ball screen. If she was able to get high, Miles would just pull the ball out and reset the screen. If Clark went behind the screen, Miles took her to the rim. Like every time. Miles was 5/6 getting to the rim in the first half. That one miss? She got free throws.

Weird stat that the announcers noticed before I did: Miles did not have an assist in the first half. She rectified that in the decisive third quarter, handing out six that frame alone.

Caitlyn Clark aside, Olvia Miles has been the most exciting point guard in women’s basketball the past five years. She’s a WNBA lottery pick. And she was too much for Virginia.

Minus

On the other end of the spectrum was Marta Suarez, who I don’t see as a WNBA player. If she was a baseball player, I’d rate her a AAAA player. Doesn’t matter though as we’re playing college ball and Suarez obliterated Virginia’s bigs. She scored a game-high 33 points including popping out to the line to go 4/7 from deep. Suarez is a matchup nightmare for the Hoos – she destroyed Virginia in the ACC tournament last year – as neither Caitlyn Weimar nor Sa’Myah Smith have the mobility to get out that far.

Minus

Miles (28 points) and Suarez (33 points) scored 61 of TCU’s 79 points. This was a two-man game in the first quarter – 12 of TCU’s 17 points – and the second quarter – all 18 points – and then the third – 17 of 24 points. And yet, coach Agugua-Hamilton didn’t do anything different. She never brought out the zone, which has worked well as an alternative all season long. I don’t know if Romi Levy could have slowed down Suarez, but they are both 6’ 3” and Levy certainly has the mobility. Levy instead spent the entire game marking Donovyn Hunter. I don’t know how dangerous Hunter was on the season, but she posted an ignominious stat line with Levy on her: 0/4 shooting, four fouls and five turnovers. So in one sense, this was successful. Coach Mox at least needed to have tried having Levy defend Suarez.

Minus

For the might-have-annoyed-only-me file, the game announcers went on and on and on about how Marta Suarez painted her own sneakers and this was evidence of her creativity and just how impressed her teammates were with her creativity. They showed her sneakers. Suarez had basically colored in the Nike swooshes. Big deal.

Plus

With 7:50 left in the fourth quarter, TCU had opened up a 63 – 52 lead. Remember, they were down at the half. Kymora Johnson stepped the line and missed both her foul shots. I wrote that it was game over in my notebook. If Mo was missing gimmes, which free throws are for her, then there was no way Virginia was going to win. The lead quickly ballooned to 70 – 55 and it looked like the rout was on.

Except that these women do not give up. Twice in the last four minutes the Hoos got the deficit down to six points. Despite playing 15 quarters to get to the point, the women never quit. They are a testament to the University and sport in general.

Minus

And then there’s TCU, and I’m not sure what they stand for. With 11 seconds left and holding a 77 – 69 lead, TCU got past the Virginia press and into the front court. They should have held the ball and dribbled out the last seconds. Instead, they took it to the rim on a 3 v 1 break. It was classless. I am now hoping that TCU gets curb-stomped by South Carolina on Monday.

Next Up:There is no next game for these Cavaliers and for seniors Caitlyn Weimar, Dannielle Arigbabu, Jillian Brown, Romi Levy and above all, Paris Clark, it is the end of their collegiate careers.Brown and Clark have been part of a remarkable turnaround in women’s basketball at UVa and they are to be commended.Until then, a very busy off-season awaits.