The Plus/Minus: Duke Eviscerates Virginia 73-54
Virginia women's basketball suffered a 73-54 loss at Duke on Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the final road game of the regular season. Val has the Plus/Minus to break down UVA's first ACC road loss in nearly a month.
Minus
It was a rough start for Virginia in the opening act of the Duke Doubleheader (the men travel to Durham on Saturday evening). Duke sprinted out to a 13-2 lead as they coasted wire-to-wire for the victory.
Minus
Duke plays the kind of defense that would make Tony Bennett proud, only with the added wrinkle of bringing full-court pressure from the opening whistle. Virginia handled the pressure well enough, but breaking the press left Virginia flustered when trying to run their half-court offense. There were very few sets that looked anything like how I imagined Coach Agugua-Hamilton drawing them up. Virginia shot only 37% from the floor and a hide-your-eyes 1/12 from deep. Paris Clark was 4/10, Camryn Taylor went 4/11 and Kymora Johnson shot 6/15. On the night, Virginia would have only five assists. As a team. Yikes.
Minus
Duke’s interior passing was first-rate. I stopped counting at seven, but Duke repeatedly found players going backdoor, slipping their screens, rolling to the basket, or going baseline for easy finishes at the rim. Even when Virginia rolled out a zone. Duke simply dominated on both ends of the floor.
Plus
Coach Mox wants her team to run. And hopefully there will be plenty of video for the women to learn from after this game. But it won’t come from Virginia. It will come from Duke who put on a clinic on how to run in transition:
On those first two Duke breaks, the camera couldn’t keep up with the play, but suffice it to say, Duke was running harder than Virginia. To make it even worse, both came after made baskets. And Virginia was still back down the floor. The spacing on the last three was better than what Virginia had on all but two of their breaks. I made a clip of the Virginia miscues, but honestly, I don’t want to embarrass any Hoo.
Minus
There must be something in the water in Durham. Last year, Celeste Williams was the embodiment of Duke whininess, angrily complaining at any referee who had the temerity for calling a foul on her. This year, newcomer Taina Mair is reprising Grayson Allen. Late in the third quarter, attempting to enter the ball in-bounds and defended by the 6’ 7” Taylor Lauterbach, Mair really slammed the ball into Lauterbach’s thigh as the five second clock was winding down. The violence was needless and a ref spoke to her. Mair was just smirking at the ref, “My bad, my bad, my bad, my bad.” Last year Mair was a promising, earnest point guard at Boston College. This year? She’s the worst the kind of Dookie. Kind of sad, actually.
More: Matt's got the in-depth game break down here.
Minus
I asked Coach Mox once why Virginia didn’t employ full-court pressure on a regular basis. She didn’t like the question and retorted that Virginia always pressed on defense, but no, they don’t. Not like Duke did. But Virginia has the wing depth this year. Duke sped up the game and it was effective on both ends of the court. I would think Virginia could do the same.
Next Up: The ACC regular season ends on Sunday, March 3rd as Virginia hosts Virginia Tech for Senior Day. Just as Virginia Tech had clinched the No. 1 seed for the ACC tournament, the Hokies got blown out by Notre Dame tonight. With this loss, Virginia is now virtually guaranteed to play on the first day of the tournament as the 11th seed. Not a lot to play for. Except, you know, pride. Game time is 6pm and the game will be on the ACC Network.
Subscribe to the Cavaliers Now Newsletter to receive UVA sports news in your inbox first thing on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
To stay up to date on all Virginia Cavaliers sports news, follow CavaliersNow on social media:
Facebook: @CavaliersNow
Twitter: @CavaliersNowFN
See more Virginia women's basketball news and content: Virginia Women's Basketball on Sports Illustrated
See more Virginia sports news and content: Virginia Cavaliers on Sports Illustrated