Virginia Wins Season Opener Over UMES, 76-52

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Jillian Brown (14 points, 13 rebounds) recorded her first career double-double, and Camryn Taylor scored 22 points and posted nine rebounds to lead Virginia (1-0) to victory, 76-52, over Maryland Eastern Shore (0-2) in the Cavaliers’ season opener at John Paul Jones Arena Wednesday night (Nov. 8).

UVA recorded 60 total rebounds and finished 20 for 25 at the charity stripe. Kymora Johnson (15 points, 7 rebounds) and Olivia McGhee (12 points, 7 rebounds) also scored in double figures for the Hoos.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively, including the Cavaliers who made just one of their first 12 shots. UVA scored eight of the last 10 points of the quarter to flip the score and take a 14-10 lead by the end of the period.

The Cavaliers extended their lead in the second and closed out the first half on a 9-0 run as UVA clung to a 35-22 lead at the break. Of the Hoos’ nine unanswered points, five of them were from Brown. Johnson knocked down three 3-pointers on seven attempts in the second.

In the third, McGhee scored six straight points on a made 3-pointer and a successful and-1 finish in transition. Alexia Smith had six of her seven total rebounds in the third, including three on the offensive end of the floor. The Cavaliers only added one point to their lead in the third after the Hawks forced eight UVA turnovers during the period.

Taylor took over the game in the fourth, scoring 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting and made all three attempts at the line. Eighteen of the Cavaliers’ 26 total fourth-quarter points came in the paint. UVA guard Yonta Vaughn dished out four assists in the fourth, all of which led to baskets by Taylor. Virginia closed out the game on a 19-7 run to grasp its largest lead of the contest as time expired.

FROM UVA HEAD COACH AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON
“That was a good game. We had to kind of grind it out a little bit, get in the rhythm. We were thrown off a little bit in the beginning, during warmups … I was happy to see everybody step up. I thought Edessa (Noyan) just got thrown into the fire and had to start. Olivia (McGhee) played the four pretty much the whole game when she was in, and that’s not a position that she usually plays, she plays the three. So, I was happy to see them step up.”

GAME NOTES

• With the win, the Cavaliers improved to 12-0 in non-conference matchups under head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton.
• UVA also improved to 2-0 in season openers under Agugua-Hamilton.
• The win marked Agugua-Hamilton’s 90 career victory as a head coach.
• Camryn Taylor’s 22 points led all scorers and marked her 12^th career 20-point game. It was also Taylor’s 100th career game.
• With 14 points and 13 rebounds, Jillian Brown recorded her first career double-double. Brown’s 14 points tied her career high, while her 13 boards marked a career best.
• Yonta Vaughn finished with a game-high eight assists, which tied her career high.
• Virginia out-rebounded UMES, 60-37, which marked the second time under Agugua-Hamilton that the Cavaliers tallied at least 60 rebounds in a single game.
• Virginia extended its lead in the series with UMES, 3-0.
• In addition to Brown, Kymora Johnson, Olivia McGhee, Edessa Noyan and Taylor Lauterbach made their UVA debuts.

UP NEXT
The Cavaliers return to John Paul Jones Arena to host Campbell (1-0) on Sunday (Nov. 12). Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).