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The Plus/Minus: Virginia Can’t Keep up With Virginia Tech in 76-63 Loss

After hanging with Virginia Tech in a back-and-forth first half, Virginia falters in the second half, losing 76-63

Val Prochaska

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Can’t Keep up With Virginia Tech in 76-63 Loss
The Plus/Minus: Virginia Can’t Keep up With Virginia Tech in 76-63 Loss /

Virginia suffered a 76-63 loss at No. 17 Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash on Thursday night at Cassell Coliseum. Val has the Plus/Minus to break down what led to the Cavaliers' loss to the Hokies. 

Minus

For the second time in four games, Virginia faced the reigning national player of the week. First it was Florida State’s Sara Bejedi. Tonight, it was Tech’s Georgia Amoore. While center Liz Kitley will get most of the headlines after scoring a two-season high of 33 points, it was Amoore who ran the Hoos ragged. Amoore had a miserable night from deep (2/9) and she only shot a pair of free throws, but she still had 20 points and 14 assists.

Minus

Camryn Taylor missed her second consecutive game from the knee injury she picked up against Pittsburgh. I’m officially pessimistic about Mir McLean returning this season and Yonta Vaughn has missed the last four games due to concussion protocols. This was a real rivalry game as the Hokies sold out Cassell Coliseum for only the second time in women’s history. Taking down Tech was always going to be a tall order, but Taylor and Vaughn were absences too big to overcome.

Plus

Virginia absolutely took it to Tech in the first half. Despite Kitley lighting up the Hoos for 20 first-half points and Matilda Ekh connecting on a trio of threes, Virginia was just down 46-41 at the half. Paris Clark had eight first half points, Edessa Noyan had seven, and Kymora Johnson had 15 as she hit 3 of 4 threes. Virginia was a perfect 9/9 from the charity stripe and only committed two turnovers. It was the best first half of basketball that Virginia has played.

Plus

Clark had her best offensive performance of the season. She scored 18 points and had 8 rebounds but what impressed me the most is that she controlled her push-to-the-rim-at-all-costs tendencies. Too many times this season she’s charged into 1 v 2 and 1 v 3 opportunities in transition and failed to convert. This game, not so much. She had a nice stop and pop early in the third quarter and on another foray, she paused at the top of the key, let the Tech defenders spread out to cover the wings, and then she attacked the basket 1 v 1.

Plus

Mo Johnson is on a roll. For the third time in the past four games, Johnson has scored 20+ points. Over those four games, Mo is 14/26 from deep, and that is 54%. That’s the player who won the 3-point contest at the McDonald’s All Star Game. For good measure, she’s converting 88% from the free-throw line. She is officially the leading scorer on the team and she’s showing the same lack of fear as Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and NC State’s Zoe Brooks, the other two standout freshman PGs in the ACC.

Minus

Coach Agugua-Hamilton defended Amoore with the trio of Johnson, Clark and Alexia Smith. Virginia is going to get another crack at Tech, hosting the Hokies at the JPJ for the last game of the ACC regular season. When Tech returns, Johnson has to be freed from the responsibility of guarding Amoore. For the whole game. Just chasing Amoore for 1/3 of the game left Johnson gassed in the fourth quarter as she airballed a three and left two short jumpers, well, short. Amoore might be the fittest player in the ACC. She regularly plays the full 40 minutes and she’s as fast in the fourth quarter as she is the first. Amoore is a grown woman; Johnson ain’t there yet.

Additional Coverage:  Matt's game report.

Plus

Edessa Noyan had a fine game. With Taylor out and London Clarkson sitting out most of the first half with foul trouble, Noyan played a season high 29 minutes and scored a career high nine points. She had a pair of offensive boards and she defended Kitley without fouling. Kitley is the two-time reigning ACC Player of the Year, she’s going to get her points. You just don’t want to send her to the foul line where she’s an 80% foul shooter.

Next Up: To this point, Virginia has played the hardest schedule in the ACC. Remember getting NC State twice in the first four games? Here on out, the schedule gets a little easier with the Cavaliers hosting Clemson at the JPJ on Sunday, February 4th at 4pm. The game is on the ACC Network.

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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.