UVA Women's Basketball Wins at SMU 63-51 | Key Takeaways

Luke Lamberson | Mar 4, 2025

Virginia Athletics

Virginia Women’s Basketball beat SMU 63-51 on Thursday night in Dallas. Despite a slow offensive start for both teams, UVA’s defense got enough stops to clinch UVA’s third win in four games. Let’s break down some quick takeaways.

Hoos struggle offensively to start

In the first half, UVA shot 3/16 from three including 1/10 in the first frame. SMU played a defense that forced UVA to take outside shots, which simply were not falling on Thursday night. The offense, specifically Mo Johnson, created numerous great looks, but there seemed to be a lid on the basket in Dallas. After scoring only 15 points in the first quarter, the Hoos scored only 14 in the second frame and Mo Johnson was held to just two points. To their credit, the Hoos only turned the ball over 12 times all night, but they finished the game shooting just 19% from deep and 40% from the field. If I told you that Mo would be 0/7 from the field and UVA would only score 29 first half points, you would probably assume they were trailing, but instead they led by double digits, which brings us to our next point.

UVA defense completely stifles SMU

After their best offensive performance of the season against Stanford, the Hoos presented one of their best defensive showings against the Mustangs, highlighted by a four point second quarter for SMU. All season I have written about how the Hoos have one or two bad stretches in a game and it costs them an opportunity to win. On offense, UVA had many long droughts, but instead of allowing big runs, they got huge stops on the other end to actually extend their lead during these periods. UVA finished with nine steals and only allowed nine offensive rebounds against one of the best rebounding teams in the ACC. It certainly helped that SMU shot 1/14 from deep, but many of these attempts were contested shots off the dribble, which are much more difficult to convert. If UVA wants to surprise anyone in their final games of the season, it will require this type of defensive showing.

Read Val's Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.

Despite struggling with her shot, Johnson still dominates

Fans of UVA women’s basketball know that this team goes as Mo Johnson goes. After a few incredible performances, Johnson cooled off Thursday, not making her first field goal until seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. Despite this poor shooting, Johnson’s impact was felt on both ends of the court as she accounted for 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and a block. After SMU cut the lead to six in the fourth quarter, Mo took over, scoring eight points on 3/3 shooting. At times, UVA has missed this production in key moments of close games, so it was encouraging to see Johnson take (and make) some really big shots as the game tightened.

Breona Hurd picks up the scoring slack

Without Johnson’s scoring in the first three quarters, many Cavaliers stepped up, including Paris Clark and Latasha Lattimore, both of whom scored in double digits. But no one rose to the occasion like Breona Hurd, who scored her second most points of the season with 16 points on just 10 shots and contributed six total rebounds (including three offensive boards). Hurd outscored SMU 7-4 in the second quarter and provided a key option on offense when Johnson and Lattimore were a combined 0/5 in that period. This production from a third option will be critical for UVA to take a step forward in the remainder of this season and beyond.

UVA looks to finish above .500 on Saturday

In Coach Mox’s first two seasons at UVA, the Hoos finished 15-15 and 16-16. Sitting 15-14 with one game remaining, the Cavaliers will look to finish the regular season with a winning record for the first time since 2018. However, the road trip to Chapel Hill to take on #8 UNC will be no easy task. Regardless of the result of that game, the Hoos seem destined for the 10 or 11 seed in the ACC tournament. This means their first game would be on Wednesday most likely against Miami or Syracuse. After two first round exits in the last two years, the Hoos will look to advance in the ACC tournament and perhaps make a run into the late rounds.

UVA will be back in action for the regular season finale on Sunday at 2pm in Chapel Hill as they face North Carolina on the CW.

More UVA Women's Basketball News & Content

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