After four successive losses, Virginia finally got the win in a frenetic and entertaining game.  It was a good start to the week.

Plus

A win is a win is a win.  Whichever team lost the game, they would be pushed further down into missing-out-of-the-ACC-Tournament territory.  The men are on the cusp of missing out and it’s not a comfortable place to be, so for now the women can breathe easily.

Plus

Latasha Lattimore led all scorers with 26 points.  One game after tying her career of 25 points, established a new high.  She also led the way with three official blocks, though I counted four.  Her defensive presence was needed because Syracuse was slicing through the Virginia defense with the best interior passing I’ve seen since Emily Engstler and Hailey Van Lith were in their pomp for Louisville.  Syracuse is the best offensive rebounding team in the ACC and it was a battle out there.  Those four blocks were crucial.  Virginia won this game on the back of an 18-9 fourth quarter, which Lattimore owned.  She had a pair of threes, a bucket in transition, a lovely post up and an assist to Edessa Noyan.  In other words, Lattimore was responsible for 12 of those 18 points.

Plus

Last game out, Kymora Johnson failed to hit double digits for the first time all season.  Here she responded with 17 points, six rebounds, eight assists and four steals.  Johnson never picks up her dribble which means she’s always a threat to score and she has the same array of scoop shots and runners as does Kyrie Irving. 

She’s developed a nice two-man game with Lattimore.

Minus

This is a two-person team at this point.  Virginia needs a third person to step up consistently.  At the beginning of ACC play, it looked like that player might be Olivia McGhee.  After scoring in double figures in four of six games she’s gotten steadily less effective, losing her starting position and scoring just three points in three successive games now.  Paris Clark scored 19 points against Louisville, her best game of the season, but in the four games sandwiched around that date, she’s scored four, six, seven and seven points.  Edessa Noyan stepped up nicely, scoring 10 points (2/3 from three-point range) and grabbing four rebounds, blocking a pair of shots and grabbing four steals.  She was that third player.  But in the five games prior, she totaled just 20 points.

Part of the problem is that the team is victimized by Johnson’s success, and ball dominance, on the ball.  Go back and watch that last highlight.  There’s not a ton of movement by other Hoos and Johnson has a bad case of tunnel vision, she wasn’t looking for anyone else.  A steady diet of shots like that against quality ACC teams is a recipe for failure.

Read More: Matt‘s Five Takeaways