Virginia Loses Mir McLean, Falls at No. 10 NC State 87-62

The Cavaliers were blown out by the Wolfpack and saw their best player Mir McLean suffer a serious knee injury

Virginia Athletics

Facing a top ten opponent on the road for the second time in four days was always going to be a tough challenge for the Virginia women's basketball team. What UVA didn't expect was to lose twice on Sunday in Raleigh, as the Cavaliers lost their best player Mir McLean to a serious knee injury during the third quarter and Virginia went on to suffer a lopsided 87-62 loss to No. 10 NC State. 

The Wolfpack can flat out shoot. That was evident to Coach Mox and the Virginia women’s basketball team. The question was whether or not the stingy Cavalier defense could disrupt that enough for a competitive game. In the end, there was little doubt of the offensive firepower of the Wolfpack, who scored 87 points, by far the most Virginia has allowed this season.

After leading the team with 18 points on Thursday night against Virginia Tech, Camryn Taylor wasted little time asserting her presence in this game. She scored eight of Virginia’s first 12 points, shooting 3/5 from the floor while the rest of her team was 2/10. The Cavaliers trailed 14-12 after another bucket from Taylor. 

Diamond Johnson paced the Wolfpack with seven first quarter points. NC State was 9/17 (52.9%) from the field compared to Virginia’s 6/20 (30%), but UVA forced four Wolfpack turnovers to stay in the game, trailing 20-15 at the end of the first quarter.

In the first possession of the second quarter, NC State drained the first three pointer for either team to take a 23-15 lead. Before the game, NC State led the ACC with a 36.8% three point percentage, while UVA led the ACC in three point defense, with its opponents shooting just 24.7%. After starting 0/6, NC State cashed in early in quarter two.

NC State increased its lead to 27-17, and then the two teams traded scoring runs. Virginia started with a 7-0 run until Jada Boyd drilled a corner three for the Wolfpack. Alexia Smith looked good in the Virginia offense with buckets on back-to-back possessions.

The more problematic run came afterwards, where NC State took a 30-26 lead and moved it to a 39-26 lead, with seven of the nine points coming from River Baldwin. Similar to before, the run ended with a three pointer, this one coming from Sam Brunelle.

After a steal and a layup at the buzzer, the Wolfpack led 41-30 going into intermission. The bench had 18 points for NC State in the first half, and shooting 8/12 (66.7%) from the field is tough to counter. Sam Brunelle scored six points in the second quarter to try to keep her team in it, but the Wolfpack jumped out to the double digit lead.

Mir McLean came out in the third quarter and went 1/2 from the line, took a charge, got an offensive rebound, and then finished with a layup. McLean has short spurts where she is unstoppable, and Virginia plays through her in those moments. With the events that transpired later in the game, this would be increasingly clear for Virginia.

NC State put together a 7-0 run to extend the team’s lead to 48-33. A few minutes later, the score was 55-37, as the Wolfpack continued to shoot extremely efficiently from the floor, while the Cavaliers struggled mightily.

A scary sight occurred with 4:18 to go in the third quarter, when Mir McLean went up for an offensive rebound and landed awkwardly, with her knee taking the brunt of the impact. McLean was in excruciating pain and had to be carted off of the court. Her Cavalier teammates were visibly shaken, and had to take the court trailing 56-41 and try not to think about their injured teammate.

Taylor Valladay and Sam Brunelle stepped up big for their team, with five and three points, respectively, in the emotional rest of the quarter. UVA trailed 68-51 after three quarters, but managed to hold on at the end of the quarter despite the emotional events earlier.

The Wolfpack once again were astoundingly efficient, shooting 7/11 (63.6%) from the field, 2/3 from beyond the arc, and 11/14 from the line in the third quarter. The team’s 27 points was the most that Virginia had allowed in a quarter this entire season.

Aziaha James drilled a three pointer to open the fourth quarter, making NC State 5/13 from three. It was clear that the Wolfpack had won the three point offense vs. three point defense battle.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the camera panned to Mir McLean in a full leg brace sitting on the bench. It was an encouraging sign and a testament to McLean’s passion for the game to see her, despite the obvious pain she was in. 

With a solid gap in place, the fourth quarter was free of drama, with NC State continuing to increase its lead. In the end, the final score would be 87-62, the most points Virginia has allowed this season.

“Obviously, NC State played well," Coach Mox said after the game. "We're on the road and playing a top-10 team, but I thought we continued to fight and didn't seem too far gone, even early in the third. But the game is secondary, honestly, to what we just witnessed with somebody that's in our family [being injured] and just praying that she's okay. I think when Mir went down, that was a big blow and our players having to witness that, I'm just really proud of them for continuing to fight after that."

The NC State offense came from all angles, as the team had five players in double figures and eight players with at least seven points. Jada Boyd led all scorers with 13 points. For the Cavaliers, Camryn Taylor had 16 points, Taylor Valladay had 13, and Sam Brunelle had 12.

All that can be said is that NC State put on an offensive clinic, while the Cavaliers struggled to find the bottom of the net. UVA took 22 more shots than NC State because of 16 offensive rebounds and because NC State got to the line more, but UVA was 25/76 (32.9%) from the field compared to NC State being 31/54 (57.4%). A margin like that is one that is nearly impossible to overcome.

Virginia falls to 13-3 on the season, and 2-3 in the ACC. Likely to be without the services of Mir McLean, the Hoos will face No. 22 North Carolina at home on Thursday night. 

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