Plus

In last Sunday’s win at Pitt, Kymora Johnson recorded just the third triple-double in program history.  The other two belong to Dawn Staley, so pretty elite company and all.  Johnson followed up that performance one week later with a 33-point, 12-assist night where she went 6/11 from deep and grabbed eight rebounds for good measure.  22 of those points came after the break as Johnson just hammered home nail after nail into Stanford’s coffin. And with her final bucket of the night, Johnson went over 1000 points for her career.

Minus

It was a special night all around, it was Senior Night and all.  The JPJ was jumping as Johnson was seeking to tie her 35-point career she set last year.  Coach Agugua-Hamilton had brought off Paris Clark and Latasha Lattimore so they could have their justly-earned applause.  She should have taken off Johnson off while she was at.  With three minutes remaining, coach Mox even got a reminder when Johnson caught a wayward finger to the eye, but she elected to keep her in.  I get it.  Virginia needed this win and the emotions were running rampant, but coaches are paid to be above that emotion.  This Virginia team is not going to the NCAAs unless they win unless they win at least three games at the ACC Tournament.  And they ain’t winning anything without Johnson.  Allowing your star player to needlessly risk injury is just coaching malfeasance.

Plus

Lattimore was cooking from the get-go as she had back-to-back threes that keyed that early 19-3 Virginia lead. At the 6:21 mark in the second quarter, Lattimore’s 12 points were more than the entire Stanford team had scored to that point. Lattimore scored 21 points on an unreal 9 of 11 shooting night, and she pulled down 12 rebounds, seven off the offensive glass. Lattimore is nominally right-handed, but she drives better with her left hand. Oh, she also had three blocks on the night.

Plus

Despite what I’ve just written about Johnson and Lattimore, I think Paris Clark had the more impactful game. Johnson and Lattimore have had good games in tandem this season, but what has been lacking is a third player to step up, while they’re both a roll.  Clark was always the player most likely to step into that roll, but she’s battled injuries and illness all season and she’s been tentative at times.  Not on this night.  Clark scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds (four offensive,) handed out six assists and had three steals.  In that all-important first quarter, while Lattimore was drifting out to three-point territory, it was Clark who capitalized on the absence of Stanford’s best interior player, Nunu Agara (out with injury,) and took it to the rim.  She played with more confidence today and was more assertive on the ball.

Plus

Virginia was 14/30 from three-point range, easily eclipsing their season high of 10 made threes.  The Hoos were actually 14/26 (53.8%) before tossing up some lack game chucks.  You can win a lot of games converting at that rate.  Olivia McGhee had her best night in weeks, scoring 11 points on the strength of 3/6 shooting from deep.  Paris Clark, coming into the game at 18% from deep, went 2/5. 

Virginia’s spacing was clean and it was helped by Johnson and Clark’s ability to get into the lane, almost at will, collapse the defense, and make the kick-out.  Most of the threes that Virginia attempted were wide open.  For their part, Stanford was slow on their rotations and looked very much like the Virginia men against UNC. 

Stanford’s legendary Tara VanDerveer retired last May after the school announced it was joining the ACC.  Just about every player of note transferred away leaving the Stanford closet bare.  This is a very pedestrian Stanford team.

Read More: Matt’s Takeaways

Highlights

Plus

With the win, Virginia’s ACC record stands at 6-10, tied with both Clemson and Stanford.  Virginia has beaten both.  That means that the Cavaliers are 10th in the ACC, and while catching Virginia Tech for a first-round bye in the ACC tournament seems unlikely, I personally want to see Virginia escape the No. 12 v No. 13 seed matchup for the tourney.  It’s the first game of the tournament, and Virginia has played in that game for the last three tournaments.  And lost every time.  I’m superstitious that way; I want Virginia to get out of that hole game.

Next Up:  Virginia has played two of three ACC newcomers these past two games.  On Thursday, February 27th, the Hoos travel to Dallas for the third newcomer, SMU.  Game time is 8:00pm Eastern and the game is on ACC Network Extra.

Kymora Johnson Scores 33 Points, UVA Women’s Basketball Beats Stanford 89-69

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Sparked by Mo Johnson’s Triple-Double, Virginia Looks to Finish Strong

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Closes on 31-15 Run to Down Pitt