Virginia Sees Momentum Wasted in "Embarrassing" Loss to Pittsburgh
Virginia experienced the entire roller coaster of emotions of college basketball in the last four days. After pulling off a massive upset win at then-No. 15 Florida State on Sunday in Tallahassee, UVA's first conference win of the season, the Cavaliers returned home where they had a solid opportunity to turn this into a legitimate ACC winning streak as they welcomed in a Pittsburgh team that had yet to win an ACC game.
Instead, they allowed the Panthers to experience the same elation they felt on Sunday, delivering a hapless third-quarter performance that led to Pitt taking a 17-point lead, a deficit that was too much for the Cavaliers to overcome. In what is undoubtedly the most disappointing result of the season, Virginia (9-10, 1-7 ACC) suffered a 56-52 defeat to Pittsburgh (7-13, 1-6 ACC) on Thursday night at John Paul Jones Arena.
"Obviously, very disappointing, embarrassing really," Coach Mox said after the game. "Credit to Pitt. They played great. They were hungry, great game plan. But for us, the way that we played, lack of urgency, lack of competitiveness, lack of want-to, really, in our own gym, was pretty disappointing."
Virginia's season-long troubles with ball security surfaced right away, as the Cavaliers turned the ball over twice in the first 40 seconds of the game and five times in the first five minutes. Those turnovers allowed Pittsburgh to jump out to a 13-4 lead thanks to eight early points from Liatu King, resulting in an early timeout from Coach Mox.
UVA snapped out of it later in the first quarter with threes from Paris Clark and reigning ACC Freshman of the Week Kymora Johnson. Jillian Brown added a mid-range jumper as part of an 9-0 Virginia run to end the quarter. The Cavaliers held the Panthers scoreless for the final 4:19 of the opening period, but Pitt still held a slim 15-13 lead at the end of one.
Pittsburgh ended its scoring drought with a three-pointer from Marley Washenitz, but that was one of just three made field goals for the Panthers in the second quarter. Neither team shot the ball well in the second stanza, as the Panthers were 3/15 from the floor and the Cavaliers were 5/14.
Camryn Taylor suffered an injury to her left knee early in the second quarter and though she walked off the floor, she did not return to the game. She was later seen on the bench with her knee wrapped. Coach Mox did not have an update on her condition in the postgame press conference. Virginia was also without sophomore point guard Yonta Vaughn, who has missed the last two games in concussion protocol.
In Taylor's absence, Virginia struggled to score consistently, but did much better taking care of the ball, committing only two turnovers in the second quarter. That, combined with UVA's stout defense against Pitt, allowed the Cavaliers to win the quarter 13-8 and grab the lead. Johnson hit her second three to tie the game and then, a few minutes later, a third three-pointer to help Virginia take a 26-23 halftime lead.
The third quarter was perhaps, no definitely, the worst quarter Virginia has played all season. After holding Pittsburgh to eight points in the entire second quarter, the Panthers scored seven points in the first minute and 40 seconds of the third. Coach Mox called a timeout to calm down her team, but it didn't help as Pitt's run continued and ultimately became a massive 13-0 surge to turn the game on its head. UVA's turnover issues resurfaced, as the Panthers scored eight points off of seven Virginia turnovers in the third.
Virginia didn't score its first field goal of the quarter until seven minutes into the period and it came on a hook shot from Cady Pauley. The Cavaliers made only two shots in the third, shooting 2/16 from the floor. Pittsburgh shot 50% from the field and outscored Virginia 24-6 in the third to seize a 47-32 lead entering the final frame.
Pittsburgh's lead became as large as 17 points at 49-32 before Virginia finally decided to wake up. After scoring 35 points in UVA's big upset win at Florida State on Sunday, Kymora Johnson took matters into her own hands, sparking her team with an and-one off the glass and then assisting on a corner three from Olivia McGhee. Johnson stole the ball from Pitt in the backcourt and converted off the backboard again plus a foul. Another steal and score for Johnson and a free throw from Paris Clark capped a 12-0 Virginia run to get back within five at 49-44 with 4:23 left on the clock.
Instead of building on that momentum, the Cavaliers failed to score for the next two and a half minutes, as Pittsburgh responded with back-to-back buckets to push the lead back to seven points. UVA's run was fueled by transition opportunities and anytime the Panthers were able to get back on defense and force Virginia to operate in a set half-court offense, the Cavaliers simply couldn't score.
A three-pointer from Cady Pauley made it a four-point game, but Pittsburgh beat UVA's press and scored a layup on the other end. Sam Brunelle made a pull-up three to again get the Hoos back with four at 56-52 with 13.3 seconds left on the clock. The Panthers then failed to get the ball inbounds in time and were called for a five-second violation, giving Virginia a chance to make things interesting.
The Cavaliers blew that opportunity, as Kaydan Lawson threw up an off-balanced three that didn't even make it to the rim and Pittsburgh was able to dribble out the clock to secure its first ACC win of the season.
Read Val's Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.
The Panthers, who were 0-6 in ACC play coming in with a 50-point loss to Virginia Tech and a 30-point loss to Louisville, earned their first conference victory behind an 18-point effort from Jala Jordan and a 15-point, 16-rebound double-double from Liatu King. But while Pittsburgh deserves some credit for coming into JPJ and finding a way to win, this outcome was more about what the Cavaliers didn't do.
Kymora Johnson had 17 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, but also turned the ball over six times. No other Cavalier scored more than seven points. Virginia had 22 turnovers as a team and Pittsburgh had 20 turnovers, but outscored UVA 22-9 in points off of turnovers. The Panthers also dominated in the paint, an area where the Cavaliers should have had the advantage, outscoring UVA 34-14 in the paint.
Virginia shot 28.3% from the floor, couldn't execute a half-court offense, and turned the ball over way too many times, leading to a loss in a game the Cavaliers desperately needed to win if they wanted to turn this season around.
Now 9-10 and 1-7 in ACC play, Virginia remains at home to take on No. 20 North Carolina on Sunday at 12pm on The CW.
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