Cavaliers Now

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Holds off Green Bay

Virginia opened up the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout with a win over Green Bay 66-61.

Val Prochaska

Virginia Athletic

Virginia women's basketball opened play at the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout with a close 66-61 win over Green Bay on Thanksgiving Day. Val has the Plus/Minus to break down the win.

Plus

A win is a win is a win.  After a slog of uninspiring matches against largely overwhelmed cupcakes, the Virginia Cavaliers played an entertaining match against the Green Bay Phoenix.  The game featured 13 lead changes and seven ties with both teams opening up their biggest leads (six for Green Bay and Virginia by five) in the last 12 minutes.  Green Bay’s Cassie Shiltz (4/9) and Callie Genke (4/8) were a great one-two punch from deep and more than kept the Phoenix in the game.

Minus

Through three quarters, Virginia was 4/11 from the free throw line. 

(There’s a reason they are called free throws.  They are just that.  Free points.)

Plus

In the fourth quarter, Virginia flipped the switch and were 10/11 from the charity stripe.  That was the ball game right there.  Breonna Hurd, who had shot only 50% from the line for the first three quarters (3/6) suddenly went 5/5 while Kymora Johnson converted all four of her free throws in what became a clutch shooting performance.  Hurd’s 11 free throws for the game were the most by a Cavalier since London Clarkson’s miraculous 14/14 performance against Boston College two years ago.

Plus

Paris Clark made her return to the squad.  She was kept on a pretty tight minutes restriction (19 minutes) but she had four offensive boards and two steals.  This was her best, and all-too-typical, sequence in which she grabbed an offensive rebound and ended up with a steal and put back. 

It must be annoying to play against Clark because a pesky play like this is just par for the course for Clark.

Minus

Virginia had more turnovers (17) than assists (15).  That’s usually a stat that would indicate a loss.  So, maybe it’s a positive that Virginia still got the win.

Plus

Like Stanford, Green Bay’s mascot is singular as in they are the Green Bay Phoenix.  Singular collective nouns for a mascot is cool, but in the Phoenix, Green Bay has adopted one of the most enigmatic creatures in all of mythology.

Read More: Full Game Report

Minus

Virginia shot 6/21 from beyond the arc.  Johnson and Yonta Vaughn were both 2/6 and while Vaughn did hit both of hers in the decisive fourth quarter, 29% just ain’t going to cut it.  Taylor Lauterbach, who hit both of her threes a game ago against Bethune-Cookman, got a little too adventurous this game.  Lauterbach is showing more mobility this year and she’ll be a positive performer down the stretch for the Cavaliers, but I don’t she should be jacking too many threes.

Plus

Actually, let me stick with Lauterbach a bit. Her mobility has improved so she's setting better screens and she's in better position for rebounds. But she's showing a lot of life in the high post, and this kind of play is becoming part of her repertoire:

Minus

Green Bay has decent overall size for a mid-major – four of five starters are 5’ 11” or better – but outside of the four minutes Jenna Guyer played, the tallest Phoenix was 6’ 1”.  The stats will say that Virginia controlled the boards with a 44-30 advantage, but it seemed much more contested as I was watching.  Once late in the third and again late in the fourth, Green Bay had two-offensive rebound trips down the court.  Had they been able to convert on either of those, Virginia could well have lost the game.

Game Highlights

Minus

Kymora Johnson played 39 minutes.  The women are playing Friday and Saturday.  We’ll have to see what Johnson’s energy level is like late on Saturday.

Next Up:  Virginia plays Washington State on Friday, November 29th at 4:00pm.  The game is on the FloSports Network.

More UVA Women's Basketball News & Content

UVA Women's Basketball Escapes Green Bay for 66-61 Win in Puerto Rico

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women's Basketball Buries Bethune-Cookman

UVA Women's Basketball Suffocates Bethune-Cookman 82-48 | Key Takeaways

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Throttles Alabama State

Published
Val Prochaska
VAL PROCHASKA

Val graduated from the University of Virginia in the last millennium, back when writing one's senior thesis by hand was still a thing. He is a lifelong fan of the ACC, having chosen the Tobacco Road conference ahead of the Big East. Again, when that was still a thing. Val has covered Virginia men's basketball for seven years, first with HoosPlace and then with StreakingTheLawn, before joining us here at Virginia Cavaliers on SI in August of 2023, continuing to cover UVA men's basketball and also writing about women's soccer and women's basketball.