Cavaliers Make Good First Impression

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — She’ll know much more about her basketball team after its first road game, but Amaka Agugua-Hamilton had ample reason to smile Monday night at John Paul Jones Arena.

It wasn’t just that Virginia topped the century mark in its 104-68 win over American in the season opener for both teams. Agugua-Hamilton loved how efficient the Cavaliers were with the ball. They totaled 35 fast-break points and were credited with assists on 26 of their 42 field goals.

“We don’t want to just jack shots,” said Agugua-Hamilton, who’s in her third season at UVA. “We had a couple questionable ones, but that’s part of the game. I thought we played with pace—26 assists on 42 baskets is great. I thought we sometimes drew two people and kicked, found an open person, and that’s why we were able to get a lot of assists. But then we also were very aggressive and asserted ourselves early. I thought we got to the paint, finished at the rim, and hit open shots.”

In perhaps the game’s most memorable sequence, sophomore point guard Kymora Johnson, leading a three-on-one fast break, flipped a behind-the-back pass to freshman forward Breona Hurd for a layup that pushed Virginia’s lead to 49-25 with 1:08 left in the first half.

“I was just happy to play with the team, show off our chemistry that we’ve been working on, the pace we’ve been working on, and all our talents,” Hurd said. “I was just having fun out there.”

The Wahoos, who advanced to the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament’s second round last season, weren’t perfect against American. They gave up 45 second-half points, “but I thought for the most part we were locked in,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “It was a great team effort.”

American struggled to match UVA’s size, talent and athleticism. In games like that, Agugua-Hamilton said, “I just want us to be consistent. I don’t want us to play the front of anybody’s jersey. I want us to play our game. with pace, execute in the half court when we need to, defend at an elite level. So I thought I saw a lot of that tonight.

“Our pace was really, really good. I think with our athleticism and depth, we can really wear the other team down with running and transition. So I thought we did that, especially there in the fourth. They got pretty tired and we were able to get some run-outs. But our communication was good for the most part. We can tighten up some things defensively, but it was a great first showing, for sure.”

Now comes a bigger challenge. In a non-conference game to air on SEC Network, Virginia plays at No. 10 Oklahoma at 9 p.m. Friday (Eastern). The Sooners opened Monday night, too, recording a 76-44 victory over visiting Southern.

“We’ll definitely see where we are, win or lose,” Agugua-Hamilton said.

Like Virginia, Oklahoma has a potent offense, so defense will be a focus in the practices leading up to the game, Agugua-Hamilton said. The Hoos need to “clean up our defense,” she said, “but love where we’re at and I think that we’re going to go down there and compete.”

This will be a rematch from their meeting early last season at JPJ, where then-No. 25 Oklahoma won 82-67. The Cavaliers missed 22 of 23 shots from 3-point range in that game. Their long-range accuracy improved as the season went on, and Agugua-Hamilton believes that should be one of her team’s strengths in 2024-25.

Against American, Virginia was 10 for 28 from 3-point range. Seven Cavaliers made at least one trey apiece Monday night.

As usual, Johnson led the way. The All-ACC point guard sprained her ankle Thursday night in Virginia’s exhibition game against Division II Barton and wasn’t sure she’d be available Monday night, but No. 21 played and sparkled.

Johnson finished with 21 points and nine assists, with only one turnover, in 21-plus minutes. She was 6 for 9 from the floor overall and 3 for 3 from beyond the arc.

As a freshman in 2023-24, Johnson shot only 31.7 percent from 3-point range. In the offseason she focused on becoming more consistent from the perimeter, Johnson said, “just getting a lot of reps up, and just trusting in my work and trusting that my teammates are going to have my back if I miss.”

There are 14 players on the Cavaliers’ roster. Two of them—sophomore center Hawa Doumbouya and freshman guard Kamryn Kitchen—will redshirt this season, and fourth-year guard Jillian Brown is recovering from a season-ending knee injury.

Of the 11 players expected to see time for the Hoos this season, five are new to the program: transfers Latasha Lattimore (University of Miami), Casey Valenti-Paea (Long Beach State) and Rylee Grays (North Carolina) and freshmen Payton Dunbar and Hurd.

The first-years impressed in their UVA debuts. The 6-foot-2 Hurd totaled 18 points, six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one blocked shot. Dunbar, a 5-foot-11 guard who graduated from high school a year early, contributed nine points and three assists.

“I thought they did a great job,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “Bre is like a Swiss Army knife out there … and she has such a high motor. She rebounds, pushes with pace, she can hit open shots, she can drive it, so I love her versatility and what she brings to our team. Payton is also pretty versatile too. She’s a great shooter. The more experience she gets under the lights, those shots are all gonna fall in. That kid really doesn’t miss shots in practice. So I love our freshmen. I think that that was a great showing for both of them, and they’re just gonna continue to get better.”

Johnson’s thoughts on Hurd’s performance?

“Loved it, loved it,” Johnson said, smiling. “That kid can just play probably 40 minutes a game if she wanted to. She hustles, she rebounds, she literally fills every single stat line. I’m just proud of her. I know she struggled a little bit with her confidence, but I’m just proud that she trusted it and trusted the process.”

Hurd said her teammates “have really pushed me to be more confident and not just be down on myself. If I mess up, they say, ‘Bounce back, move on, we got your back.’ So they’ve definitely pushed me to be a better player with my confidence.”

An injury slowed the 6-foot-4 Lattimore in preseason, and she didn’t start Monday night. But she had a huge impact, totaling 15 points, eight boards, two assists and five blocked shots.

“She’s just trying to get back in the flow,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “I think she opened up a little bit in the second half and started playing more like herself, so I just expect her to get more and more comfortable.”

Junior guard Paris Clark, who teams with Johnson to form one of the ACC’s top backcourts, had seven points, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots in about 19 minutes. Another returning player, sophomore wing Olivia McGhee, finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three steals off the bench, and 6-foot-7 Taylor Lauterbach grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to go with her career-high eight points.

Lauterbach, who began her college career at Kansas State, didn’t have a big role in 2023-24, her first season at UVA, but “she’s doing a great job of just finishing shots, getting offensive rebounds, getting us extra possessions, using her length on defense to alter shots,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “So I think she’s much improved from last year. And I just like where she is right now.”

The crowd at JPJ included UVA alumnus Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of Redditt. Ohanian, who’s married to tennis legend Serena Williams, is passionate about women’s sports and visited with the team Monday night.

Virginia’s next home game is Nov. 13 against Radford.

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