The Senior Night Plus/Minus: Virginia Falls in Closing Seconds to Virginia Tech

Minus

A stunning third quarter saw Virginia erase what had been a 23-point 2nd quarter deficit. Virginia actually took the lead with 24 seconds remaining before Tech’s Carleigh Wenzel bagged both her free throws seconds later for the win. (This was the kind of half that we all wanted the men to pull off against Duke on Saturday.) Had the Cavaliers won out, this would have been the largest comeback in program history, but they didn’t, so we’re left in moral victory territory. I believe in moral victories… well, in general I do. This was the last game of the season. The time for moral victories is over. Both the Hokies and the Hoos could be scrambling for that last-four-in NCAA tournament slot.

Minus

Six minutes into the first quarter, Tech’s Carys Baker hit her third three to inflate the score to 20 – 8. I wrote in my notes, “this sh*t is getting old.” It’s been a bad week. On Thursday, the UNC women set a program, as well as JPJ, record with 16 made threes. On Saturday, Duke’s men’s team connected on 50% of their threes for the game. (Neither game went well for the Hoos.) It was looking like déjà vu all over again. Tech connected on five of their first eight treys (Baker was 3/4) and Tech would walk off with a 27 – 13 first quarter lead.

Plus

Breona Hurd was Virginia’s leading scorer in the first quarter with six points in five minutes. She was perfect from the foul line (2/2,) ran the court well in transition and then had a coast-to-coast finish of her own. For good measure, Hurd connected on Virginia’s first three of the game, in the second quarter. For the game, Hurd had nine points and two rebounds in 10 minutes.

Minus

And then she didn’t touch the court again. Gabby White and Adeang Ring each played two minutes (also none in the second half) and Jillian Brown played a whopping three minutes. Coach Agugua-Hamilton is basically playing six players and that’s a formula for crashing out on the second day of the ACC tournament. I don’t see how Ring or Hurd or White or Brown can possibly have any idea of what their role is on this team.

Plus

After a Carleigh Wenzel bucket capped off a 12 – 3 Virginia Tech run to push the lead to 39 - 16, Virginia finally dropped back into a zone defense. On Tech’s second possession, Virginia forced a shot-clock violation and then Virginia went on a 10 – 4 run of their own, something to give them a bounce going into the locker room.

Minus

Why so long to bring out the zone? In Romi Levy, coach Mox has the perfect player to slot into the top of the zone, Kymora Johnson is a better defender in the zone and Sa’Myah Smith, Tabitha Amanze and Caitlin Weimar are mobile defenders along the baseline. Virginia’s zone is a weapon and this team doesn’t have many weapons. The zone ought to be the team’s primary defense and not an afterthought.

Plus

Virginia’s 29-point third quarter was probably the best 10 minutes of the season for the Hoos. Johnson woke up (she had only a single free throw to her credit in the first half,) scoring eight points in Virginia’s 10 – 3 run to open the second half. Johnson added a pair of threes, including a buzzer beater at the end of the quarter en route to a 16-point quarter. Hitting threes, running in transition, getting backdoor in the halfcourt offense; the entirety of Mo’s arsenal was on display.

Plus

Some players just look like basketball players, like they were born to play the game. Think Allen Iverson or Chris Webber. Well, Virginia Tech’s Mel Daley is cut out of the same cloth.

Minus

Virginia started the same way for the fourth quarter: two Paris Clark drives to the rim and a Johnson three gave the Cavaliers a 7 – 3 start and the first tie of the game at 64. While the two teams traded buckets and free throws, Tech just looked half a step quicker. Virginia basically played five players the entire quarter, and this was after a grueling game on Thursday. The Hokies, for their part, were coming off their bye week. The game was destined to come down to who had last shot and Carleigh Wenzel was able to get to the foul line to sink two free throws for the 83 – 82 win. It was a soft foul, to be sure, but I had earlier noted that Virginia was getting the benefit of some home cookin’ from the refs on the day. It was a horrible time for karma to insert itself into the proceedings.

Next Up: The regular season is over and Virginia claims the #8 seed heading into the ACC tournament. They will play #9 seed Clemson on Wednesday, March 4th at 11am. According to Charlie Creme, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Clemson are the last three teams to escape the play-in for the NCAA Tournament. The women’s victory over Louisville still matters, but two straight losses have taken a bit of the shine away. I’m going to say that a win over Clemson is a must if the Cavaliers want to play any further ball in March. Best to knock Clemson into the last-four-in first-four-out tournament bubble.