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

Pitt was feisty in a mid-week loss to Notre Dame, playing them as well as any team can. (Hannah Hidalgo and Maddy Westbeld had games to forget.) When Pitt’s Mikayla Johnson cooled down from her hot start and Khadija Faye got into foul trouble, there was no one left to pick up the slack.

Plus

A win is a win is a win, and with just a single win over their last seven games, the Virginia Cavaliers needed this win. Pitt is in danger of missing out on the ACC Tournament, but after a moral-victory type of performance against Notre Dame, they were primed for a minor upset. Virginia shut the door on that.

Minus

Paris Clark, a starter, and RyLee Grays, second off the bench, stayed at home with illness. Combined with the long-term absence of Yonta Vaughn, that is three of the Cavaliers’ top nine players. Kymora Johnson, already leading the ACC in minutes, was always going to play 39 minutes.

Plus

Casey Valenti-Paea stepped into the breach for the Hoos, scoring a season-high 12 points on 2/4 shooting from deep and going 4/4 from the line. It was the first time this year she’d reached double digits in points, and she reached that in the first half. For good measure, she had the team’s highest +/- at 18.

Plus

Kymora Johnson scored 20 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out 11 assists, and in doing so, joined some very exclusive company in Virginia history. Dawn Staley is the only other Virginia player to have a triple-double (she had two in her career.) And now she has company.

Johnson suffered through a woeful night shooting – 5/20 from the floor and 2/9 from deep – in what is becoming a worrying trend. I was concerned that Mo would tire late in the game given the early pace of play and without anyone on the roster available as a ready replacement. Johnson allayed those fears with a nine-point fourth quarter as it was Pitt’s Marley Washenitz and Brooklynn Miles who tired down the stretch.

Minus

Breona Hurd twisted her ankle in the second period, came back and played into the third quarter, but then sat out the entire fourth quarter. Hurd’s health going forward, especially if Grays takes any time recovering from illness, will be crucial down the stretch.

Plus

Latasha Lattimore set a career-high with 30 points. She added 11 rebounds and blocked four shots, all while matched up against Pitt’s Khadija Faye, who might be the most efficient big in the ACC this year. Faye got hers – 24 points and 13 rebounds in just 27 minutes – but coming out of the halftime break, Lattimore went right at Faye and forced her to commit fouls three and four in the first two minutes of the third quarter. With Faye on the bench, Virginia finally broke the game open. Lattimore, a career 62% shooter from the charity stripe, went 14/18 from the line. Even better, she was 7/8 in the all-important third frame. Lattimore, coming off her worst two-game stretch of the season (one where she had almost as many turnovers as rebounds,) rebounded in a big way.

Plus

Edessa Noyan, who has not progressed as hoped this season, and who did not particularly stuff the stat sheet on this day, was nevertheless crucial down the stretch. After Faye had bullied the Cavaliers down low on two consecutive plays and brought Pitt back to 69-64, Noyan fed Johnson a nifty interior pass for the assist. The next play, Faye again got position, but Noyan was able to tie Faye up for a held ball with the possession arrow favoring Virginia. Two possessions later, Noyan got the ball on the baseline and went right at Faye, drawing her fifth foul. (Noyan made both free throws.) Next Virginia possession, she grabbed an offensive rebound and fed the ball to Lattimore. Lattimore was fouled and she made one of her two foul shots. As a result of Noyan’s masterclass, Virginia extended a 69-64 lead to a 75-65 lead and secured the win.

Plus

The Pitt rims were very forgiving, but Virginia capitalized by going 28/33 at the line. Pitt got 24 points from Faye and a career-high 27 from Mikayla Johnson, which would normally be enough to secure a win for any team. 28 made free throws was the difference in the game and helped offset an 8/31 performance from beyond the arc.

Next Up: Virginia hosts Cal on Thursday, February 20th. Gametime is 7pm and the game is available on the ACC Network Extra.

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