UVA Women's Basketball: What We Learned From a 1-2 Trip to Puerto Rico

Luke Lamberson | 3 Hours Ago

Virginia Athletic

Virginia women’s basketball returns from Puerto Rico after a rough three outings in the Puerto Rico Shootout. The Cavaliers survived a scare from Green Bay before falling to Washington State and Wyoming in games the Hoos wish they could have back. Let’s look at some takeaways from a few disappointing performances.

UVA loses focus in Puerto Rico

A tournament in Puerto Rico on the Thursday through Saturday of Thanksgiving week sounds great on paper. However, it appeared that the Wahoos were just a step slow the entire weekend, in a very unique playing environment. It must be difficult finding the same level of competition when playing in a gym with very few fans in a game on Thanksgiving morning that was only available for viewing for $29.99.

The Hoos dropped three of their five worst shooting performances of the season (40.6% from the field in the three games combined). In both losses, UVa was within a possession at the beginning of the fourth quarter and scored only four points in over five minutes against Washington State to begin the fourth and only seven points in the first seven minutes of the final frame against Wyoming. Scoring droughts like these in key moments are crushing for a team that needs to win these types of games.

Mo puts up numbers, but must improve her efficiency

Kymora Johnson averaged 21 points, seven rebounds, and four assists in her Thanksgiving week performances. These numbers are great and one of the reasons UVA didn’t lose all three games. However, Johnson needs to improve her offensive efficiency. Aside from her 10 turnovers, she shot the ball 52 times.

Although she shot 9/20 from deep, Johnson took too many low percentage shots around the rim. 12/32 from two is a stat that will need to be improved. Mo struggled with a similar issue in non-conference play last season, so I am confident she will find her stride, but this team will go as far as Mo will take them, so it is critical she finds efficiency while still maintaining her output.

Hoos are resilient down the stretch, but it wasn’t enough

UVA outscored their opponent in the final few minutes of all three games. Perhaps from the close game experience of last season, the Hoos looked comfortable in the late fourth quarter and ran effective offensive sets and played impressive defense. However, they could not manage to get the final bucket necessary to fully come back. With 3:46 left against Green Bay in a one point game, the Cavaliers went on a 5-0 run and didn’t allow a point for over two minutes while converting free throws to ice the game.

In the Washington State game, the Hoos trailed 73-64 before going on a 10-2 run in two minutes to tighten the game at 75-74. However, UVA missed five shots to end the game, including a brutal final sequence where Lattimore had a great look at the lead with three seconds left. Similarly against Wyoming, Coach Mox’s squad managed to make it competitive at the end with a 6-0 run, but never managed to get it closer than three.

The shots will eventually fall, but I am optimistic that the Hoos were able to play their best basketball in the final few minutes of these games. However, it was frustrating to watch, as they couldn’t manage to overcome the deficits they left themselves from shaky play earlier, particularly at the start of the fourth quarters of the two losses.

Injuries and foul trouble plague Coach Mox yet again

One of the biggest points of frustration for the fans in the last couple of years has been the unfortunate slew of injuries that have plagued the Hoos throughout Coach Mox’s tenure. This tournament was no different as Edessa Noyan was unable to play in all three games and Latasha Lattimore did not suit up for the Wyoming loss. It is crucial for this team to keep its front court healthy as UVA will need Lattimore, Noyan, Taylor Lauterbach, and RyLee Grays to play key roles all season.

These injuries exacerbated the foul trouble of the Wyoming game as the Hoos were already thin. Three players fouled out in this game: Paris Clark in 22 minutes, Casey Valenti-Paea in 16 minutes, and RyLee Grays in 20 minutes. Valenti-Paea played some key minutes and Grays was critical with Noyan and Lattimore out, yet neither could stay on the floor for more than half of the game. Some of this can be blamed on a pretty tough whistle on Saturday, but the players need to be able to adapt in order to stay on the court.

UVA needs to turn it around quickly to get back on track for March

While these games feel like ones where you just burn the tape, unfortunately the NCAA selection committee will be very aware of them in March. I have no doubt the ceiling of this team is higher than last season and I expect Coach Mox’s squad to shock some people in ACC play. But losses to Washington State and Wyoming are going to really hurt the bubble chances of UVA. Washington State has already lost to Drake by 11 and Stanford by 29. Wyoming lost to Norfolk State by nine on Friday.

NET rankings aren’t out yet (the rankings the NCAA uses for selection), but I expect both of these teams to be Q3 or Q4 losses. Similar to the Wofford upset last season, it will take a lot for the Hoos to overcome these losses. Virginia's next two games are home tests against major conference opponents, including the ACC opener against Boston College. Both of these games are very winnable and a 2-0 week would set the Hoos back on track, but it will require performances better than the ones we saw (or didn’t see depending on your FloSports subscription) in Puerto Rico.

UVA women’s basketball will be back in action on Thursday, December 5th at 6pm ET as the Cavaliers host Auburn in the ACC/SEC Challenge at John Paul Jones Arena.

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