Cavaliers Now

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Corrals SMU

Led by Kymora Johnson’s 17-point 10 assist double-double, Virginia ran away from SMU in the decisive third period for a 76 – 52 victory.
Val Prochaska|
Breonna Hurd returns following an eight-game layoff.
Breonna Hurd returns following an eight-game layoff. | Virginia Athletics

Plus

A win is a win is a win.  While Virginia has had injury problems of their own – Olivia McGhee lost for the season and Sa’Myah Smith and Breonna Hurd each missing eight games – SMU was without their two leading guards, Tyi Skinner and Kyla Deck.  College basketball is all about the guard play and SMU was simply outmanned on this night.

Plus

Speaking of injuries, Breonna Hurd returned to the hardwood and logged 16 minutes of playing time.  Hurd had six points, three offensive rebounds, a block, an assist and a steal which she converted for this fastbreak:

Plus

Kymora Johnson put on another masterclass performance.  After her 41-point explosion against American, 17 points might seem a little pedestrian but she had 10 assists, all of which were lovely.  I have been very critical of Virginia’s ineffectiveness on the break the past two years, but this season has seen definite progress.  Three of Johnson’s assists were on the break as she found streaking runners all over the court.

Plus

Ball movement continues to be elite for this team as the Cavaliers had 24 assists on their 32 made buckets.  Coach Agugua-Hamilton said that the point of emphasis for the winter break was working on feeding the post.  Johnson had five assists into the post, Gabby White had four (of her six,) and Hurd, Tabitha Amanze and Smith accounted for another five post feeds.

Plus

Amanze and Caitlin Weimar were wide open all game long.  Part of this success was just due to the extreme height advantage the Hoos enjoyed, but this pair were able to get to their spot and seal their defender all night long.  Amanze scored 11 points on 5/6 shooting while Weimar had 13 points on 5/8 shooting.

Minus

If Johnson is not hitting from deep, this team is suspect from beyond the arc.  2/14 from three-point range will lose you a lot of ball games.  Mo was 1/5 and Romi Levy was 0/4.  The only good news about the Hoos’ performance is that they didn’t have to take many from deep.

Plus

On the other hand, scoring 76 points with only six points coming from beyond the arc is pretty remarkable.

Minus

As computer modeling has gotten better and more frequent – thousands of simulations can be run in a single hour – the conventional wisdom of many gaming situations has changed.  In backgammon, a game I know well, an opening roll of 6 – 4 was used to run one of your back pawns.  Now, a million simulations later, an opening 6 – 4 is used to establish a point in your home board.

Maybe conventional wisdom has changed in basketball, too, but with just 24 seconds left in the first half, Virginia got the ball, ostensibly for the last shot.  Except that Paris Clark took a three with 15 seconds left on the clock.  She missed, and SMU, which actually outscored Virginia in the second frame, had plenty of time to try and cut an eight-point deficit.  (They missed, so all’s well that ends well, I guess.)  Clark was wide open, she took a good shot, but unless something has changed in how we think about basketball, it seemed a criminal lack of situational awareness.

Plus

Coming out of the half, SMU’s Anaya Brown scored the first basket of the half.  Virginia’s lead was just six points, 35 – 29.  It was looking like a ball game.  The Cavaliers then scored the next 20 points, highlighted by a pair of nearly identical Smith to Amanze hi-lo post feeds.  Oh, and this gem by Johnson.

Plus

On this date last year, Virginia’s NET ranking was 113.  Today it is 33.  Now, the schedule has been kind to Virginia as ACC play begins in earnest.  To be frank, SMU and Boston College are not good teams, but I like how this roster has been constructed.  In Mo Johnson, Paris Clark and Jillian Brown, there is a lot of returning experience in the back court and extremely experienced size in the front court.  The team tonight looked like it had been together for a couple years, not the couple of months it really has.

Next Up:  Virginia hosts Clemson on New Year’s Day 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.

Share on XFollow Jerzy_Walker