Cavaliers Now

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Wins at Clemson

A big second quarter propels the Virginia Cavaliers to a 67-60 win over the Clemson Tigers.

Val Prochaska

Virginia Athletic

Virginia is now 2-0 in the ACC.  Well, in 2025 that is.  Let’s break down how the Cavaliers got there.

Plus

A win is a win is a win.  Clemson came into the game 3-1 in the ACC, fresh off a successful two-game stretch against the ACC's newest members from the West Coast as they knocked off Stanford and #20 Cal.  Virginia outscored Clemson 20-10 in the second quarter to take a 35-27 lead into the locker room.  Clemson never did solve the Virginia zone and Virginia leaves Littlejohn Coliseum with the victory.

Plus

Clemson’s Loyal McQueen came into the game as the reigning ACC Player of the week thanks to her combined 44 points in the Tigers’ victories over Cal and Stanford.  She never solved the puzzle of Virginia’s zone and scored just six points on 2/7 shooting.  Olivia McGhee, who had six inches on her, made it her personal mission to stop McQueen in transition.  The entire Virginia squad was pretty effective in this mission as Clemson didn’t score a single fast-break point on the night.

Plus

Virginia’s transition clicked.  The spacing was better, which means a wider lane for Kymora Johnson to attack, and the women did a better job at finding the trailing runner for the open three.

And then when Johnson was able to leak out, Paris Clark found her for the wide open three.

Tunnel vision on the break has long been the bane of the up-tempo pace Coach Agugua-Hamilton wants to play, but on this night, Virginia sorted it all out.

Plus

Virginia was 12/14 from the foul line as Johnson (6/6,) Latasha Lattimore (4/4,) and Paris Clark (2/2) were perfect.  Lattimore’s late-career renaissance as a quality free throw shooter is particularly encouraging.

Plus

Olivia McGhee had a great night, shutting down Loyal McQueen all night, but also scoring 14 points on 6/9 shooting (2/4 from deep.)  She also had three steals.

Read More: Matt's Five Takeaways

Plus

This was Mo Johnson’s night as she scored a season-high 28 points.  She was 4/7 from deep and she’s back at 41% on the season.  Virginia won this game in the second quarter and Johnson (12 of the team’s 20 points that quarter) was the catalyst.  For good measure, as Clemson was reduced to fouling, Mo converted all four of her free throws to ice the game.

Minus

Virginia had 16 turnovers.  That they didn’t give up a single fast break point is a testament to their defensive energy, but the Hoos are among the least careful teams in the ACC.

Plus

Clemson came out of the gate shooting a blistering 45% (5/11) from beyond the arc, and the Tigers would sink 11 treys for the game.  It didn’t bother Virginia.  Three times Clemson scored multiple buckets with a three buried in their mini run.  Virginia responded every time.  Clemson has a deep team, with both Raven Thompson and Hannah Kohn each having reached the 17-point mark off the bench in their last two games.  And yet Virginia weathered each storm.

Plus

Virginia was whistled for just nine fouls and allowed Clemson just four free throws.  Of course, playing zone defense is one way to limit fouls and the 12-3 made foul shot disparity was basically the ball game.

Plus

It’s time to start thinking NET and Virginia got their first Quad 1 win of the season.  The other nine wins Virginia has are Quad 4 and Quad 4 victories will not get anyone into the NCAA tournament.  Before the game, Virginia sat at 108th in NET, but this is the ACC, and Virginia will have many opportunities to get Quad 1 and Quad 2 victories.

Next Up:  A chance at a second Quad 1 victory as the Duke Blue Devils come to the JPJ on Sunday, January 12th.  Game time is 12 noon and the game will be on the ACC Network.

More UVA Women's Basketball News & Content

Five Takeaways From UVA Women's Basketball's 67-60 Win at Clemson

Round Robin: Evaluating UVA Women's Basketball at Halfway Point of Season

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women’s Basketball Finishes Strong vs Wake Forest

Five Takeaways From UVA Women's Basketball's 69-46 Win Over Wake Forest

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.