Virginia Overcomes Slow Start, Overpowers Tulane 81-59 in the Caymans

After falling behind 24-9, the Cavaliers rallied and rained down 15 threes to rout the Green Wave in the Cayman Islands

In her postgame press conference following Virginia's first loss of the season to Oklahoma last Sunday, Amaka Agugua-Hamilton maintained confidence that her team would eventually shoot better from beyond the arc, despite having just watched her Cavaliers shoot a dismal 1/23 from three in the loss to the Sooners. 

Coach Mox didn't have to wait long to see her confidence rewarded. 

After getting off to a sluggish start that saw UVA trail by as many as 15 points, the Cavaliers proceeded to rain down threes, 15 of them to be exact, as Virginia stormed back and overwhelmed Tulane over the next three quarters en route to an 81-59 victory to open the Cayman Islands Classic on Friday. 

It was a nightmarish first quarter for the Cavaliers, who looked like they might have still been in vacation mode for the first several minutes of the game. Tulane came out in a zone defense and Virginia looked lost trying to break it. UVA couldn't complete entry passes to get the ball into the paint, turning it over five times in the opening period. UVA's poor three-point shooting was only marginally better from the Oklahoma game in the first quarter, making two of eight three-point attempts. 

On the other end of the floor, the Cavaliers couldn't defend the Green Wave without fouling. Tulane made seven of eight free throw attempts and knocked down three three-pointers. Coach Mox was forced to call not one, but two of her timeouts in the first quarter as her team fell behind 11-2 and then 22-7. Crucially, Sam Brunelle knocked down a three late in the period to give UVA some momentum, though the Cavaliers still trailed 24-12 at the end of the first quarter. 

After going scoreless in the first quarter, Kymora Johnson gave Virginia a big lift to start the second, knocking down a three and then picking up a steal and dishing to Olivia McGhee for a transition layup. Johnson then splashed another three as Tulane gave her way to much room at the top of the key. 

After a Tulane timeout, Sam Brunelle kept the party going for Virginia with a three-pointer to tie the game at 24 and then Alexia Smith knocked down a free throw line jumper in transition to give the Cavaliers their first lead of the game. Tulane finally scored after that to end a five-minute scoring drought, but the damage was done as Virginia strung together a 17-0 run spanning the quarter break to erase a 15-point deficit and get back into the game. 

Brunelle and Smith stayed hot offensively, with Brunelle hitting her third three of the first half and Smith knocking down another mid-range jumper. As compared to the first quarter, Virginia did a much better job of getting the ball inside, collapsing the Tulane zone defense, and then kicking it out to open shooters. 

There was brief stoppage late in the second quarter due to moisture on the court, as there were several instances of players slipping on the court. When play resumed, Tulane scored four-straight points, but Yonta Vaughn responded with a corner three to help Virginia take a 36-34 lead at halftime. 

After shooting 31.3% from the field in the first quarter, UVA shot 52.9% in the second, including 5/9 from three. Meanwhile, Tulane went 0/5 from beyond the arc in the second quarter and turned the ball over seven times, as the Cavaliers outscored the Green Wave 24-10 in the period. 

Virginia picked up right where it left off in the second half, as Camryn Taylor got deep positioning and scored through contact at the rim. Jillian Brown picked up a steal and went coast-to-coast for an old-fashioned three-point play and then Taylor scored again, shooting over a double-team to give Virginia a 46-34 lead. 

Tulane called a timeout and hit a couple of baskets to stem the tide, but then Brunelle hit her fourth three of the game (on her fourth attempt) to push the Cavalier lead to 15. After Virginia struggled with defensive rebounding in the first half, UVA flipped the script and scored a couple of second-chance baskets. 

Cady Pauley came in off the bench and kept the good times rolling for the Hoos, coming up with a steal and a jumper in the back court and then dishing a sweet behind the back pass to Paris Clark in transition. 

🤯🤯🤯 Cady Pauley goes behind the back to Paris in transition‼️

📺 https://t.co/U7E4sezUO7#GoHoos🔸⚔️🔹 #GNSL pic.twitter.com/tjE50LJBNV

— Virginia Women's Basketball (@UVAWomensHoops) November 24, 2023

The Pauley party continued late in the third, as Pauley cut to the corner and let loose a very quick three - the ball was in her hands for only a fraction of a second - and splashed it to put Virginia ahead 63-42 at the end of the third quarter. 

The game was essentially in hand entering the final period and Coach Mox knew it, emptying her bench early in the fourth with Taylor Lauterbach and Edessa Noyan seeing extensive minutes. Tulane hit a couple of threes to get as close as 16, but a few buckets from Yonta Vaughn made sure the Green Wave never threatened a comeback. 

Vaughn's fourth quarter propelled her to lead Virginia in scoring with 14 points to go along with four assists, five rebounds, and most importantly, four three-pointers. Ten different Cavaliers scored in the game and seven of those players had at least eight points. Sam Brunelle had 12 points, including four threes on five attempts, and was +30 in her 19 minutes on the floor. 

Alexia Smith had a hyper-efficient 10 points on 4/5 shooting and Cady Pauley added eight points. The dynamic freshman duo of Kymora Johnson and Olivia McGhee had nine points apiece. Johnson had nine points, nine assists, and three steals, while McGhee, who made her first-career start in the game, tallied nine points, six rebounds, and two assists. 

After shooting less than 20% from three as a team through the first four games of the season, Virginia knocked down 15 of 35 three-point attempts - 42.9%. Tulane turned the ball over 19 times, 13 of which were on Cavalier steals, and UVA scored 26 points off of those takeaways. Most notably, Virginia's bench outscored Tulane's bench 49-16 in the game. 

Virginia (4-1) will play its second game in as many days to close out the Cayman Islands Classic on Saturday at 5pm ET, taking on the defending national champion and No. 7-ranked LSU Tigers. That game will be streamed on FloHoops (subscription required). 

Subscribe to the Cavaliers Now Newsletter to receive UVA sports news in your inbox first thing on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

To stay up to date on all Virginia Cavaliers sports news, follow CavaliersNow on social media:

Facebook: @CavaliersNow
Twitter: @CavaliersNowFN

See more Virginia women's basketball news and content: Virginia Women's Basketball on Sports Illustrated

See more Virginia sports news and content: Virginia Cavaliers on Sports Illustrated