Cavaliers Now

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Runs Away from Virginia Tech

Virginia outscored Virginia Tech 27-12 in the third quarter and won comfortably in Blacksburg, 73-65.
Val Prochaska|
Virginia Athletics

Virginia led Duke for three quarters before fading late.  The women flipped the switch on Virginia Tech, coming out of the halftime locker room on fire and they coasted for the win.  Beating Tech in Blacksburg is the antidote to a lot of mid-season ills.

Plus

A win is a win is a win.  These Virginia Tech Hokies are not the powerhouse they have been in recent years.  Gone is coach Kenny Brooks, gone is three-time ACC Player of the Year Liz Kitley, and Georgia Amoore high-tailed it out of Blacksburg to follow Brooks to Kentucky.  There’s enough firepower in holdovers Carleigh Wenzel and Matilda Ekh, as well as newcomer, and reigning ACC Player of the Week, Rose Micheaux.  Any win over Tech is a good one.

Plus

Latasha Lattimore continued her strong run of play by tying her career high of 24 points to go with a career high 15 rebounds (five of which were offensive.)  For good measure, Lattimore added three assists and three blocks to her account.  Tech had no answer for her.  Best call of the night came from Mack McCarthy.  Early in the third quarter, as Virginia came out and scored first the first seven points of the half, McCarthy intoned, “The Hokies really need a stop here.”  He was still mid-sentence when Kymora Johnson found Lattimore who spun around Ekh and made it to the rim.  The score was now 44-35 and the game was effectively over.

Lattimore is making us all forget about Camryn Taylor. (You know, in a good way.)

Plus

It's easy to overlook Kymora Johnson’s casual greatness.  Today was not one of her better games.  She had five turnovers, two of which were careless charges in transition.  And it took her 15 shots to get to 16 points.  But as Tech was mounting their last comeback, Johnson calmly threw up this three to pretty much ice the game.  Johnson is a gamebreaker and the best basketball player on grounds.

Plus

After laying goose eggs the past two games, Breona Hurd returned to form with 11 points off the bench.  She also had this steal:

Just two plays earlier, Paris Clark had a very similar steal (with the same result.)  Those two plays, coming in rapid succession, were backbreaking for Tech, and Hurd was on the court for both. 

Minus

I could write this paragraph just about every game:  Virginia, for all their interest in running the ball and pushing the pace, just do not run very well.  Got rebounds in the first quarter and tried to go coast-to-coast.  Running the length of the court is too slow.  Both were met by a pair of Tech defenders in the paint; both times they missed.  Johnson also had an ill-advised charge trying to convert a 1 v 2 on the break. 

Tech also wants to push the pace.  By way of comparison, Tech had six fast break opportunities where they got a player behind the last Virginia defender.  Tech’s players broke hard on the break.  Virginia’s not so much.  Virginia committed fewer turnovers – 14 to 17 – but Tech outscored Virginia on the break 9-4. 

Read More: Matt's Five Takeaways

Plus

In addition to Hurd, RyLee Grays had perhaps her most useful game off the bench.  She logged 14 minutes, her highest total over the past seven games.  She had a pair of offensive rebounds as well as two floor-burn ball saves.  Coach Mox also welcomed back Taylor Lauterbach, who had missed the past three games.  The last domino to fall needs to be the return of Yonta Vaughn, who has now missed over a month of basketball.

Plus

Olivia McGhee hit a pair of threes.  Overall it was a lackluster shooting night for the Cavaliers – 6/18, which isn’t going to set the world on fire – so McGhee accounting for a third of the team’s threes is noticeable.  Her handle is improving though:

and:

One of the reasons so want to see Vaughn return is that I think Johnson could be more dangerous playing off ball.

Plus

Virginia now leads Tech in the Commonwealth Clash by a score of 5.5 to 1.  With the women’s win, Virginia is now halfway to the Cup!

Next Up:  Virginia travels to Raleigh, North Carolina to take on NC State on Sunday, January 19th.  Game time is 2:00pm and the game is on the CW.

More UVA Women's Basketball News & Content

UVA Women's Basketball Takes Down Virginia Tech 73-65 | Five Takeaways

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Falls Late to Duke

Five Takeaways From UVA Women's Basketball's 60-55 Loss to Duke

Round Robin: Evaluating UVA Women's Basketball at Halfway Point of Season

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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