Virginia women’s basketball picked up its third-consecutive victory by dominating Alabama State 85-50 on Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena. Val has the Plus/Minus to break down the game:
Plus
A win is a win is a win. The men are in the Bahamas, readying themselves for a pair of matchups against Top 25 teams. The women got another buy-in game cupcake, this time against the Hornets of Alabama State. Alabama State gets full points for navigating a schedule which will include #24 Alabama, #9 Oklahoma and #17 Ole Miss. (A schedule that I could only dream about for Virginia.) I got the sense that Alabama State kept playing their game, even after falling behind 25-7 after the first quarter.
Plus
Latasha Lattimore nearly had a first-half double-double and finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds. She stuffed the stat sheet with an assist, three blocks and four steals. Most significantly, Lattimore never tried to take a rebound coast-coast, which has been her biggest weakness on the season. Lattimore is tall and rangy and she moves quite well laterally. This was the kind of production that coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton was hoping Lattimore would bring.
Tic-Tac-Toe….𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙊𝙣𝙚.#GoHoos🔸⚔️🔹 #GNSL pic.twitter.com/rwyCG9aOSy
— Virginia Women’s Basketball (@UVAWomensHoops) November 21, 2024
Plus
Taylor Lauterbach also had her finest game as a Hoo, and was perfect on the night: 3/3 from the floor and 2/2 from the foul line. She’s also showing more mobility than last year. Taylor is not overly athletic, but she has learned how to use her size and length, not so much to get blocks, but to wall off shooters and prevent them from even attempting a shot.
Plus
Breona Hurd had a great game on the offensive glass, finishing with six offensive boards (out of nine total) to go with 13 points. Hurd has gotten into double digits every game of her collegiate career.
Minus
Outside of the four minutes that the 6’3” Camariyana Tavares played, the tallest Hornet on the floor was 6’1”. Virginia countered that with 6’2” Hurd and Olivia McGhee, 6’4” Lattimore and 6’7” Lauterbach. Somehow Alabama State had the same number of offensive boards – 15 – as did Virginia. The Cavaliers did only allow 16 second chance points, but 15 offensive rebounds is too many for Virginia to allow to such a small team.
Plus
For the second game, Yonta Vaughn has played alongside Kymora Johnson as the lead guard, allowing Johnson the freedom to move around the court. Johnson continues to light it up from deep – she was 3/5 on the night from beyond the arc – and she has more space to attack the rim. Johnson was perfect 6/6 from the elbow to the rim. Vaughn’s shot deserted her on this night, but she still finished with a game-high seven assists, including this gem:
Pushing the 𝙋𝘼𝘾𝙀 🔥#GoHoos🔸⚔️🔹 #GNSL pic.twitter.com/HSGYswHqoH
— Virginia Women’s Basketball (@UVAWomensHoops) November 21, 2024
Plus
It was a reasonable night for the team from deep. Johnson, McGhee, Hurd and Payton Dunbar all hit multiple threes. Those four, plus the normally reliable Vaughn (0/3 on the night) give the Cavaliers multiple shooters that can spread the floor and open the lane for Johnson, Hurd and Paris Clark to drive to the rim. This is the best balance the team has had in years.
Read More: UVA Women’s Basketball Crushes Alabama State 85-50 | Key Takeaways
Minus
Paris Clark missed her second straight game, as did Edessa Noyan.
Minus
It was a poor night at the charity stripe as Virginia converted just 66% of their 27 attempts. It didn’t matter here, but free throw shooting percentages have decreased for three straight games. The one positive is that Lattimore went 5/7 from the line, her best showing of the season thus far.
Plus
With 4:50 remaining in the first quarter, Coach Mox brought out the full court press. I think I counted 12 Alabama State possessions that Virginia pressed, and they forced five turnovers for the game. The press keyed a 12-0 run to end the first quarter and that stretched the lead from 13-7 to 25-7.
Minus
Virginia forced the smaller, outmatched Hornets into 22 turnovers. Virginia, for their part, turned the ball over 20 times. Against a team that had a seven-point first quarter. Virginia did better not forcing 1 v 2 and 1 v 3 fast breaks, but they still seemed to stumble in their opening sets too frequently. It will be just about impossible to rack up 20 turnovers against a Notre Dame or NC State or Florida State and actually win the game.
Game Highlights
4️⃣ straight home wins to start the season!! 😎👍
Check out the highlights 🔥🔥#GoHoos🔸⚔️🔹 #GNSL pic.twitter.com/JIsFDW8wTf— Virginia Women’s Basketball (@UVAWomensHoops) November 21, 2024
Next Up: The women have one more cupcake, ahem tune up, before heading to the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout for Thanksgiving. The Cavs host Bethune Cookman on Sunday, November 24th. Gametime is 4pm and the game is on the ACC Network.
UVA Women’s Basketball Crushes Alabama State 85-50 | Key Takeaways
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