Virginia women’s basketball used a strong second half performance to power past La Salle 76-47 on Sunday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena. Val has the Plus/Minus to break down what we saw from the Cavaliers in their third victory of the season

Plus

A win is a win is a win.  It’s early days as yet another out-manned foe comes to JPJ for what amounts to little more than an exhibition game.  The La Salle Explorers, coming off an 8-22 year last year, feature 13 new players to go with just two returning sophomores.  La Salle played a like a team that was at ground zero, team-wise.  The steady play of Virginia’s two point guards, Kymora Johnson and Yonta Vaughn, allowed the Cavaliers to grab the easy victory.

Plus

Virginia broke the game open with a 26-point third quarter.  La Salle was hanging around and went to the locker room at halftime down just 29-24.  Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton had given Vaughn her first start of the year, but in the third she moved her to lead guard which allowed Johnson to play off ball.  Johnson scored 10 of her game-high 20 points in the third frame alone, going 2/2 from deep and 2/2 from the pinstripe.  The team played cleaner ball: after committing 10 turnovers in the first half, the Cavaliers had just two in the third quarter.  With Vaughn assuming primary ball-handling responsibilities, Mo had greater freedom to leak out on the break, leading to the team’s best fast break on the night:

This was a great change of pace and mirrors what Notre Dame is doing with Olivia Miles and Hannah Hidalgo.

Plus

I think the long-term ceiling for these Cavaliers is how well Olivia McGhee develops over the next three years.  She is Virginia’s most athletic wing and she runs the floor better than anyone.  She’s a great free throw shooter and at 6’2” she offers a lot of size at the wing.  But she’s an inconsistent shooter and on defense she’ll often try to rely more on her athleticism than fundamentals.  In other words, she commits a lot of tacky fouls.  (She fouled out today.)  Today was one of her better outings as she had 14 points on 6/11 shooting, was perfect from the line, and had this steal and finish.

Minus

La Salle – tallest player 6’1” – pounded Virginia on the offensive boards early.  They had 10 in the opening quarter, but because of that height disparity, and the fact that they aren’t really good, they had zero second-chance points.  For the game Virginia would end up with a 46-45 rebounding margin.  Virginia has good size on the wing with McGhee and Breonna Hurd as well as more size down low with 6’4” Latasha Lattimore and 6‘7” Taylor Lauterbach, but it’s not translating to rebounds.  This team is going to struggle against ACC competition at this rate.

Plus

The ACC Network flashed a graphic showing how Breonna Hurd’s strong start mirrored that of Johnson’s last season.  Through three games, Hurd averaged 27.7 minutes and 14.0 points.  Johnson was at 26.7 and 14.7 respectively.  Hurd had a nice first half, leading the team in scoring with 8 points, chipping in four rebounds and having the highest box +/- for the half.  Hurd is physical; she can both initiate and play through contact.

Minus

Coach Mox kept Hurd pinned to the bench in the second half.  After getting 17 minutes in the first half, Hurd played just four minutes in the second, sitting out the entire fourth period.  She was shown, visibly upset, listening to Coach Mox on the sideline, but I didn’t see why she was pulled.

Read More: Matt’s Five Takeaways