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The Plus/Minus: Virginia Upsets No. 15 Florida State

Kymora Johnson has arrived! Mo’s 35 points paved the way for the Cavaliers to knock off the Seminoles 91-87

Val Prochaska

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Upsets No. 15 Florida State
The Plus/Minus: Virginia Upsets No. 15 Florida State /

Virginia picked up its first ACC win of the season in upset fashion as Kymora Johnson led the Cavaliers to a 91-87 victory at No. 15 Florida State on Sunday afternoon in Tallahassee. Val has the Plus/Minus to break down UVA's big win. 

Plus

A win is a win is a win. A brutal start to the ACC season has seen Virginia take on No. 3 NC State twice, Duke, No. 20 UNC, No. 19 Notre Dame, and now, No. 15 Florida State. For their part, the Seminoles came in with notches in the belts with wins over UNC and Virginia Tech. But Virginia jumped all over FSU from the get-go, opening up an 11-1 lead in the game’s opening moments. Jillian Brown hit a corner 3 as time was winding down to give UVa a 27-22 lead going into the second quarter. Despite getting pummeled in the second quarter to the tune of a 21-12 deficit, the Cavaliers scored the first seven points of the second half and it was game on. The Hoos and the 'Noles traded punches for the rest of the game with Virginia prevailing down the stretch.

Plus

Let’s just stipulate that FSU is very good. Ta’Niya Latson is last year’s ACC Freshman of the Year, and she can seemingly score whenever she wants to. Sara Bejedi is the reigning national player of the week courtesy of her 33 points against Virginia Tech. Makayla Timpson is a force down low and the best shot blocker in the ACC. And Virginia beat them in Tallahassee.

Plus

Kymora Johnson played just about a perfect game. Mo scored 35 points on 14/20 shooting, 3/7 from deep and 4/5 from the foul line. The last four free throws? With 16 and 4 secs on the clock to ice the game. Every shot she made was a big shot, and her decision making was All-ACC. 

She added seven rebounds and six assists to her stat line. Her defense was great on both Bejedi and O’Mariah Gordon who shot a combined 8/22 on the day. 

Johnson has been good all season, but to be honest, I have wondered at times if she was that much of an improvement over the departed Taylor Valladay. Well, I won’t wonder that anymore. This was a special performance, the best I’ve seen from a woman in the three years I’ve been watching.

Here's the game highlights. Kymora's fingerprints are all over this win.

Minus

Yonta Vaughn did not make the trip to Tallahassee. Florida State clawed back in the game in the second quarter when Johnson was on the bench. Alexia Smith and Paris Clark are fine secondary ball handlers, but Virginia doesn’t want a steady diet of them as lead ball handlers. 

Plus

Olivia McGhee continues to impress. She was quick out of the gate, scoring seven of Virginia’s first 20 points. She finished with 12 points flashing a very nice mid-range shot at the elbow. 

She hit momentum threes to open the game and then late down the stretch when every shot mattered. Her elevation into the lineup is the most important change Coach Agugua-Hamilton has made this season. 

Minus

Virginia spent a lot of time in a zone defense. It makes sense. Coach Mox has to protect Cam Taylor from herself foul-wise. Taylor Lauterbach is not particularly mobile, and now, neither is Sam Brunelle. Brunelle has just taken one too many injuries in her career and she’s at the bottom of the bench. She played just four minutes as she cannot keep up with two teams playing at 90-point pace. 

As for the zone itself, Florida State picked it apart. 

Plus

If the only stat you knew about a four-point ballgame was that one team had 19 turnovers and other just three, you would presume that the team that took care of the ball better would have won, wouldn’t you? Not in this case. From top to bottom, this was a team effort. Edessa Noyan canned all four her free throws and set a career high with eight points. Jillian Brown, who came in shooting .120 from deep, was 2/2 from beyond the arc and contributed 10 points. London Clarkson put up 10 points and had a ridiculous +/- box of +17. In 24 minutes. In a four-point game. How is that even possible?

Read:  Matt's got the game report and play-by-play.

Minus

Fouls.

Again.

Virginia lost the second quarter, but to be frank, they could have lost the game. Florida State can score points in bunches, so Virginia is probably lucky that the 21-12 deficit wasn’t larger. McGhee only played one minute and Taylor only played two. Coaches yanking players with two fouls in the first half just means that McGhee and Taylor fouled out of the half. It could have cost the team. Now, McGhee never committed a third foul, so maybe Coach Mox ought to learn that McGhee can be trusted. Taylor? Not so much. She fouled out of the game anyway. And it’s only going to get harder for her to stay in games because she’s now got a bit of a rep. She was fouled out on a lame crap call from the officials. Taylor only logged 16 minutes. Virginia needs more of her, not less. 

One game after sending Notre Dame to the pin stripe 44 times, Virginia surrendered 29 free throws to Notre Dame.

Plus

Virginia pounded FSU on the glass, out-rebounding them 48-30 overall and 12-10 on the offensive glass.

Plus

Virginia went 8/17 from three-point range. That’s 47% and it’s astounding for a team averaging 30% on the season. Just as the men have found in their two most recent wins, this game gets a lot easier when the threes are falling.

Check out this version of the Good Ol' Song

Next Up: Virginia gets a bit of a breather, hosting winless-in-the-ACC Pittsburgh on Thursday, January 25 at 7pm. The game is available on ACC Network Extra. 

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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.