The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Stuffs Drexel

Plus

A win is a win is a win but this was ultimately another forgettable buy game for the Cavaliers. Drexel kept the game interesting for six minutes, even jumping out to a 12 – 7 lead. Virginia just has too much size -- the Hoos can toss out a pair of 6’ 2” wings in Breona Hurd and Olivia McGhee – and Virginia won the battle of the boards comfortably, 47 – 23.

Plus

Last game out, Virginia tied the program record with 15 made three-pointers. On this night, Virginia hit that mark again going 15/31 from deep. I thought the record was going to be broken as the Cavaliers 10/17 at the half. For the season, Virginia is converting at a 44.8% clip, which is first in the ACC and sixth nationally.

Plus

15 made threes. We’re going to stay with that for a moment. Fifteen made threes, and Kymora Johnson only contributed a pair to that total. Mary-Anna Asare and Breona Hurd each made four and Olivia McGhee hit her first two three-pointers. For the season, Johnson is hitting on 61%, while Adeang Ring is converting 75% of her threes. Asare is at 53%, McGhee and Eris Lester are both at 50%. Even spot time players like Lyla Coogan and Erica Gribble are at 43% and 67% respectively.

Plus

Furthermore, most of these threes came as a result of the Hoos getting into the paint and kicking the ball out. Inside-out threes are converted at the highest rate, across all levels of basketball. The ball is coming toward the shooter as she is already facing the basket so there is less body movement and the rim was always in sight. As an added bonus, a shooter’s defender is inevitably going to be pulled towards the paint, so the shooter is just that much more open. Caterina Piatti had a lovely touch pass out of the post for a Breona Hurd three. This has been a characteristic of Roussell-ball through just four games.

Minus

Drexel’s offense sliced through Virginia’s defense almost at will last night. Back cuts, backdoor motions and weak-side screens: Virginia was caught ball watching repeatedly. There’s a lot of new players, and for the players who returned, there is a new coach, so lots of unfamiliarity going on around the women’s program at the moment. Duke could crush Virginia by 25 if the Hoos are this inattentive against the Blue Devils. (On New Year’s Eve, if you’re wondering.)

Plus

Heartwarming story out of Drexel on this night. Sisters Molly and Megan Rullo truly have Drexel blood flowing their veins. Their mother, Maureen, is the 18th highest scorer in Drexel program history whilst father Jim is a career 88% shooter from the charity stripe and he sits first in the record book for that mark. Big sister Molly was the game-high scorer (along with Breona Hurd) at 18 points.

Minus

The starting lineup is still in flux, but this is what early-season buy games, especially from brand new coaches, are all about. The locked starters are Johnson, Asare and Hurd. Piatti has started every game in Tabitha Amanze’s absence, but as there is no work on Amanze’s return, there is even less to made of if Piatti eventually steps down. Both Janae Walker and Sintija Aukstikalnyte have started this season. I bet it is not long before Eris Lester becomes the fourth starter. She brings Paris Clark-levels of intensity.

Next Up: Virginia travels to Norfolk to take on Old Dominion on Sunday, November 15th. Game time is 2:00pm and the game will be on ESPN+.

Add us as a preferred source on Google