Strong Finish Propels Cavaliers Over Miami, 77-60

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (13-13, 5-10 ACC) scored the final 14 points of the game and four Cavaliers finished in double figures in its 77-60 victory over Miami (16-10, 6-9 ACC) Thursday night (Feb. 22) at John Paul Jones Arena. The win is UVA’s third in its last four games.

Kymora Johnson led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting and dished out four assists. Johnson has scored at least 20 points in six of UVA’s last nine games. Camryn Taylor totaled 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and added a game-high 11 rebounds to record her 12^th career double-double, also her fourth of the season. Alexia Smith (12 pts, 8 ast) and Jillian Brown (10 pts, 4-7 FG) rounded out the list of double-digit scorers for the Hoos. Smith’s eight assists are a career best and she finished Thursday’s contest with zero turnovers.

Miami had 38 points in the paint after shooting just 13 percent from 3-point range. The Hurricanes were led by Kyla Oldacre, who scored a team-high 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Shayeann Day-Wilson (11 pts), who entered Thursday’s game as one of two players in ACC play to shoot above 40 percent from beyond the arc, finished just 1 for 6 from distance.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Taylor had eight of the Cavaliers’ first 11 points. Smith buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put UVA up 22-15 after the first 10 minutes of play. Virginia shot 47 percent from the field in the opening quarter after knocking down four of their eight attempts from beyond the arc.

The Cavaliers extended their lead to as many as 14 points in the second quarter. UVA’s 46-32 advantage at the break marked its largest halftime lead of the season over an ACC opponent. Johnson was 3 for 6 from the field in the second and knocked down a pair of free throws before suffering an apparent lower-body injury with 12 seconds remaining in the half. She headed to the locker room early, but returned to action to start the third quarter. UVA shot 53 percent from the field and 58 percent from 3-point range in the first half. Taylor led all scorers at the break with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while Johnson had 11 points.

After scoring the first four points of the third quarter, UVA grasped its largest lead of the game [50-32], but the Hurricanes capitalized on an 11-0 run later on to trim the Hoos’ advantage to seven [52-45]. Both teams shot 4 for 14 in quarter No. 3, but the Canes sunk seven shots at the line, while Virginia only managed two. The Cavaliers clung to a 58-47 lead at the end of the third.

A flurry of made baskets by the Canes ultimately cut the UVA lead to three [63-60] with 4:25 to play. A layup by Johnson, which was followed by her fifth 3 of the game, kickstarted UVA’s 14-0 run to close out the game. Taylor scored six points in the fourth, including on two made layups where she also drew a foul but was unable to connect at the line.

FROM HEAD COACH AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON
“That was a really good game for us. I’m really proud of how we competed for 40 minutes. I thought we took some notes from the Syracuse game because in the second half of that game I thought we got better. We obviously know we didn’t play well in the first half. We wanted to make sure we came out, and we came out swinging, punch first and then continue to punch. And I think we did that. We took a lot of pride in playing in front of our hometown fans and playing on our court. And we were able to have a lot of poise, especially down the stretch when they closed the gap, and it was a five-point game. Nobody panicked, everybody stayed together and kept moving the ball. We were able to open it up and win by a pretty big margin. It was a really good game for us.”

WITH THE WIN…

• Virginia claimed its third victory in its last four games.
• The Cavaliers tallied their fifth victory in league play, surpassing last year’s ACC win total (4).
• UVA snapped a six-game losing skid in the series against the Hurricanes.
• The Hoos (13-13) pulled back to .500 overall record on the season.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The Cavaliers’ 17-point win marked its largest margin of victory over an ACC opponent this season.
• Virginia led 63-60 in the fourth before scoring the final 14 points of the game.
• The Cavaliers led for 38:46 of game time and never trailed in Thursday’s contest.
• UVA’s 46-32 lead at the half marked its largest against an ACC foe this season.
• For the second consecutive game, Virginia recorded at least 22 assists.
• The Cavaliers tallied 10 blocks, good for second most in a game this season.
• Kymora Johnson finished with a game-high 21 points, her sixth 20-point output in UVA’s last nine games.
• With 18 points and 11 rebounds, Camryn Taylor recorded her 12^th career double-double and fourth of the season.
• Alexia Smith’s eight assists are a career best. Smith finished with zero turnovers.

UP NEXT
The Cavaliers travel to No. 20 Louisville (22-6, 11-4 ACC) on Sunday (Feb. 25). Tipoff from KFC Yum! Center is set for noon on The CW.