Cavaliers Now

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Can’t Overcome Cal

The California Golden Bears went on a 17-0 run to start the second half. Virginia was spent after clawing back and couldn’t close the deal, losing 76-70.
Val Prochaska|
Virginia Athletics

This was the first time that the Virginia Cavaliers met Cal in ACC play, and I’m pretty sure it’s the first time I’ve ever seen Cal at all.  It’s a new world as far as the ACC goes, but the loss had an old-school feel to it:  Virginia is going to make the ACC tournament, but once again, the Cavs will be playing on opening day.

Minus

East Coast bias is a thing within the ACC; Cal was picked to finish 14th in the preseason poll, but this Golden Bear squad is anything but mediocre.  Ioanna Krimili went 6/13 from deep, and in the process moved up to 11th all-time for made threes.  Ugonne Onyiah had herself a double-double and grabbed seven offensive boards, or more than the entire Virginia squad.  It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone so successfully establish position down low.  Seriously, she set up in the restricted arc every time she wanted to.  With this win, Cal secured a first-day bye for the ACC Tournament.

Minus

Virginia went into the locker room leading by five, 35-30.  The Hoos had shot the ball relatively well (5/13 from deep,) Latasha Lattimore had four first-half blocks, and the team had committed just three turnovers.  A different Virginia team emerged as the Cavaliers turned the ball over five times in their first six possessions.  Coach Agugua-Hamilton had to burn two timeouts in the first four and a half minutes.  Cal scored 17 straight points to take a 47-35 lead.

Plus

Onyiah committed her third foul of the game, went the bench, and Virginia stormed right back.  These women simply do not give up.  Kymora Johnson got to the rim and then to the free throw line; Olivia McGhee hit a baseline jumper, Paris Clark finally woke up and got to the rim twice, and Edessa Noyan hit a pair of three-pointers. 

Just like that, Virginia had a 12-point run of their own and Cal coach Charmin Smith had to bring Onyiah back into the game to staunch the damage.

Plus

Paris Clark was back in the lineup after missing last Sunday’s game vs Pitt.  It took her a while to play herself into the game, but she ended with 12 points, four rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals.  For the first time in a very long while, Yonta Vaughn was present on the bench, and that can only be a good sign.

Minus

Coach Mox still has too short a bench to be competitive in the ACC.  RyLee Grays missed a second consecutive game (and wasn’t on the bench) and it looked like Taylor Lauterbach was never going to play.  I don’t understand Lauterbach’s banishment to the end of the bench; she is relatively immobile, but she is useful, she plays within herself, and she is 6’ 7”.   (Something, something, something, can’t coach height, something, something.)  Casey Valenti-Paea, coming off her best game of the season, played just five minutes.  It’s not like Valenti-Paea was sized out of the game.  When Onyiah sat for extended minutes for each foul she picked up each quarter, Cal went four-guard with stretch-four Marta Suarez in the hole.  Coach Mox preaches a next-one-up philosophy, but it’s harder to meet that standard if you don’t know when you’re going to be the next one up.

Plus

Kymora Johnson is one heck of a shot maker. 

She makes shots like this all the time.  Virginia fans are getting a little spoiled. Johnson played all 40 minutes and responded to her poor shooting night vs Pitt with 24 points on 8/15 shooting from the floor and going 2/4 from deep.  She had a team-high seven rebounds and dished out five assists.

Read More: Luke's Key Takeaways

Minus

Latasha Lattimore had a game to forget.  Following her 30-point double-double vs Pitt, she scored just four points on a 3/11 night.  While she did have five blocks, she was bullied down low by Onyiah.  Against Pitt, Lattimore went right at Khadija Faye to start the second half, drawing her 3rd and 4th fouls early in the third quarter.  Against an equally foul-prone Onyiah, Lattimore looked much more subdued when she should have been driving on her harder.

Minus

What was this?  Virginia is down by six with 14.7 seconds remaining.  Coming out of a timeout this is the play that Coach Mox drew up?  And you put the ball in the hands of a player who hadn’t played a minute in the second half? 

I know Lattimore has an impressive wing span and I’m sure the element of surprise helped some, but even had Lattimore come down cleanly with the ball, she would have been doubled up. 

Yikes.

Next Up:  Virginia is getting all the ACC newcomers in a row.  Virginia hosts Stanford for Senior Night on Sunday, February 23rd.  Gametime is 6:00pm and the game is on ACC Network Extra.

More UVA Women's Basketball News & Content

UVA Women's Basketball Falls to Cal 76-70 | Key Takeaways


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

UVA Women's Basketball Wins at Pitt 80-67 | Key Takeaways

UVA Women's Basketball Falls to Virginia Tech 87-62 | Takeaways

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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