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The Plus/Minus: Depleted Virginia Roars Past Boston College

Yonta Vaughn marked her return to the lineup with her finest performance as a Cavalier as Virginia downed Boston College 73-66
Val Prochaska|
The Plus/Minus: Depleted Virginia Roars Past Boston College
The Plus/Minus: Depleted Virginia Roars Past Boston College

Virginia earned a hard-fought road victory on Thursday night, taking down Boston College 73-66 in Chestnut Hill. Val has the Plus/Minus to break down Coach Mox's 100th career win. 

Plus

A win is a win is a win. And that’s something we haven’t said much about the women since the calendar has turned over to ACC play. Led by Yonta Vaughn’s 16 points, five Cavaliers scored in double figures – Vaughn, Paris Clark, Edessa Noyan, Kymora Johnson and Sam Brunelle – in the most balanced attack the team has shown all season.

Plus

Vaughn returned after missing five games due to concussion protocols, and it wasn’t a moment too soon. Boston College leads the ACC in steals and they put on a master class for much of the first quarter, forcing seven turnovers in the initial seven minutes. Johnson, to be frank, was playing like a freshman, a scared freshman at that. Virginia went from being up 6-4 to being down 18-8 in a blink of an eye. Then Vaughn replaced Mo and righted the ship. Virginia went on an 8-0 run to end the first and then jumped over the Eagles in the second. Vaughn put up 10 second-quarter points, including a pair of three-pointers. 

Stats can sometime be misleading, but Vaughn’s box +/- was +18. Johnson’s was -5. Virginia doesn’t win this game if Vaughn was still sitting out.

Minus

Johnson had a particularly rough go of it, especially in the early going. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Johnson finally had more points than turnovers. But in a game where the free throw margin was substantial, Johnson was strong from the line, going 4/4 down the stretch.

Minus

Virginia can’t shake the injury bug. As Vaughn returned, London Clarkson and Cady Pauley joined Cam Taylor among the wounded. Virginia won the rebounding battle over all, but BC gathered 14 offensive rebounds for a 12-7 advantage in second chance points. Virginia really needs Taylor to come back.

Plus

Edessa Noyan has successfully grabbed the brass ring in Taylor’s absence. She had a career-high 13 points on 6/8 shooting and she was one rebound shy of a double-double. Noyan has good composure and footwork on the offensive end, and despite playing a career-high 32 minutes, she only got stronger as the game went on, grabbing five of her nine boards in the final frame. She has a long way to go on defense but that is true for most bigs.

Plus

Brunelle hit a pair of treys, both in transition. She’s not the fastest of players, so her trailing the play and setting up at the break of the three-point arc is a natural spot for her. Every Virginia guard should be looking for Brunelle in transition.

Plus

After the Clemson loss, I opined that given the soft whistle that characterized the game, Virginia needed to have been more aggressive driving to the rim. It’s like Paris Clark read my column as she attacked the rim all game long. She had four drives to the rim in the first quarter as she scored half of the team’s points in the first frame.

More importantly, she didn’t force every play. Here she stops a step away from her defender to find Noyan. This works because the separation allows her to make the pass in the first place.

Plus

Both teams put on a clinic at the charity stripe. Virginia was 15/17 while Boston College was 22/28. 28 free throws can tell you one of two things. Virginia fouls too much. It is the team's Achilles Heel. Or that the refs were unduly kind to BC. Sometimes two things can be true.

More:  Matt's got the in-depth game report here.

Plus

The game was tied 54-54 after three. Virginia opened with three straight turnovers before reeling off a 9-0 run to blow the game open. You can’t turn your back on these Cavaliers, they are definitely a 4th quarter team.  Here's the game highlights.

Plus

Coach Agugua-Hamilton got her 100th victory as a head coach. Congratulations Coach Mox!

Time to Break out the Good Ol' Song!

Next Up: Virginia hosts Wake Forest on Super Bowl Sunday. Gametime is 2pm and the game is on ACC Network Extra. 

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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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