The SEC Edition of the Plus/Minus: Vanderbilt runs by Virginia Women’s Hoops

Minus

With 13 seconds remaining and the ball in Kymora Johnson’s hands, the Cavaliers were down just four points to #15 Vanderbilt, 34 - 30. That she couldn’t convert didn’t really matter as Virginia had matched Vandy blow for blow in an entertaining game. In the third quarter the wheels fell off the UVa bus as the Commodores scored 29 points to blow the game open. 29 points in ten minutes is unreal. It had taken Vanderbilt 20 first-half minutes to score 34. It was game over at that point.

Plus

Virginia didn’t stop fighting, though and Johnson erupted for 13 fourth-quarter points: 5/5 from the floor and 3/3 from the floor. This mirrored the team’s performance as the Hoos went 11/15 and 5/8 in the final frame.

Plus

I was looking forward to seeing Vanderbilt play. Mikayla Blakes is the real deal. Not only does she look and play like Ta’Niya Latson (formerly of Florida State and now plying her trade for South Carolina) she scores like her, too. Last season Blakes had seven 30-point games and two 50-point games. She scored a game-high 28 points, but I was actually more impressed with freshman point guard Aubrey Galvan who immediately brought to mind Oliva Miles. She had a game-high eight assists, and all were highlight reel no-look, behind-the-back, and baseball rifles. And in Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda Vanderbilt had the best athlete on the court. Whether she was covering four feet or 40 feet, she was two steps ahead of everybody. And then, when she shot, she was the most calm, poised player on the court. Virginia simply didn’t have an answer.

Oh wait, maybe this should be a minus…

Plus

Virginia lost by 13 and early in the fourth quarter were down by 26. If you look at the stats, both teams made 27 buckets (Virginia took 58 shots and Vandy took 59.) Virginia was 8/21 from deep, a respectable 38%, while Vanderbilt was worse at 8/23. It felt like Virginia was getting pounded on the boards, but it was only a 31 – 34 deficit, and only a 9 to 10 deficit on the offensive glass. Virginia actually scored more second-chance points.

So where does a 13-point loss come from?

Minus

It comes at the foul line where Virginia was 6/10 all the while Vanderbilt was 19/21 from the charity stripe. Part of this was Virginia being typically mediocre, but a larger part of this was the home cooking of the SEC refs. Vanderbilt players could take a Virginia player setting a screen and simply push her out of the way. Repeatedly. Talk about blowing up a screen. Two Vandy players took a dive. And as Virginia came out of the locker room, ready to make a run at Vanderbilt, the refs called three touch fouls in the first 90 seconds.

Vanderbilt was still better, but Virginia played them pretty even, except for the refs.

Minus

It didn’t help that Virginia was short-handed. Sa’Myah Smith is still out, though the announcers stated that she should be back before the New Year. And for the second straight game, Breonna Hurd and Olivia McGhee were in street clothes. Virginia didn’t have the horses.

Minus

And speaking of horses, Romi Levy did not start (first time this season) and she only played 18 minutes. She’s incredibly versatile and her height at the three would have been a bonus against a tall Commodore team. If she was slowed by illness, perhaps, then Virginia was missing too many pieces to win this game.

Minus

The soft schedule that Virginia has played to date did nothing to prepare the team for Vanderbilt away. If coach Agugua-Hamilton wants her team playing in March Madness, she’s got to schedule more Quad I and Quad II games.

Minus

Virginia struggled with Vanderbilt’s physicality, both when the Commodores brought the full court pressure and trying to play through Vanderbilt’s high ball screens. Again, not playing low-major competition should help with that.

Plus

Shout out to Caitlin Weimar who is now the only active player in America with 1500 points and 1000 rebounds. Virginia has two more cupcakes remaining on the schedule, Howard and Winthrop. I’d like to see her get the starts in those two games to see if maybe she be getting starter’s minutes at the 5.

Next Up: Virginia begins ACC play when they travel to Boston College on Sunday, December 7th. Game time is 12 noon and the game is on ACC Network Extra.