Hoos Save Their Best for Last at JPJ

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

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — When the game ended Sunday night, members of the University of Virginia women’s basketball team remained on the court after shaking hands with their Stanford counterparts, and head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton asked Kymora Johnson to address the crowd first at John Paul Jones Arena.

It was only fitting. Johnson’s latest masterpiece highlighted UVA’s 89-69 rout of Stanford. The 5-foot-7 sophomore, who last weekend posted only the third triple-double in program history, totaled 33 points, eight rebounds and a career-high 12 assists to lead the Cavaliers (14-14 overall, 6-10 ACC) in their final regular-season home game.

“We just want to say, ‘Thank you guys for coming out all season long,’ ” Johnson told the fans at JPJ, and Agugua-Hamilton saluted them too.

“Even through the tough times, they were here, they were faithful, they were loud, they helped us get over the hump many times,” Agugua-Hamilton said at the postgame press conference, “and we just wanted to make sure we went out on a good note and then propel ourselves into more basketball for the rest of the season.”

The Wahoos have two regular-season games left, both on the road. UVA plays Thursday night at SMU (10-18, 2-14) and next Sunday afternoon at No. 9 UNC (25-4, 13-3).

The ACC tournament starts March 5 in Greensboro, N.C. UVA is in a three-way tie for 10^th place with Stanford (14-13, 6-10) and Clemson (13-14, 6-10).

Stanford joined the ACC last summer and, until Sunday night, had never played a women’s basketball game in Charlottesville. The Cardinal will not have happy memories of its first visit to JPJ.

Six minutes in, the Hoos led 19-3, and Stanford never cut its deficit to single digits the rest of the way. An 11-0 run by Virginia early in the third quarter ensured there would be no late-game suspense. The 20-point margin of victory Sunday night was the Cavaliers’ largest over an ACC foe in their three seasons under Agugua-Hamilton. They turned the ball over only nine times, a season low.

This has not been the season the Hoos envisioned, but for one night all was well at JPJ, and the crowd of 4,797 showed its appreciation from start to finish.

“I think this was probably our best game all season on both sides of the ball,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “I think we were just locked in. We played on one accord. We understood the game plan and talked our coverages early on defense. Offensively, we set and used screens, we pushed in transition, we got points in transition, especially early. We set the tone with that. So we just really were clicking. Everybody played free and really had some fun out there and just played together.”

Virginia was coming off a close loss to Cal at JPJ. Johnson scored 24 points against the Golden Bears, but Latasha Lattimore, UVA’s top post player, finished with only six points and four rebounds.

The 6-foot-4 forward returned to form Sunday night, posting her 10^th double-double of the season. On Stanford’s first possession, Lattimore blocked a shot, starting a fast break that ended with a Paris Clark layup off a pass from Johnson. Lattimore scored 10 points in the first six minutes and finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.

Agugua-Hamilton said she challenged Lattimore as the Cavaliers prepared for the Cardinal.

“I was actually pretty disappointed in her performance in the Cal game,” Agugua-Hamilton said, “and it had nothing to do with points or anything like that, just competing and doing the things that she knows how to do and just playing free and playing with energy and joy and all that.

“Tash, she really responded. And I think also her teammates were like, ‘We need you, we need more from you.’ So it wasn’t just me, but she responded. And you can tell from like the first bucket that she was locked in. So we’re proud of her.”

Sophomore guard Olivia McGhee contributed 11 points for UVA, her high in a game since Jan. 12, and Clark, a junior, finished with 18 points, one shy of her career high, and added seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Injuries have hindered Clark for much of the past year, and she came into the game shooting 16.7 percent from 3-point range. Against Stanford, though, she shot with confidence and was 2 for 5 from 3-point range.

As a sophomore, Clark shot 36 percent from behind the arc, and that’s more indicative of her touch, Agugua-Hamilton said. “We know what she’s capable of. She is a great shooter. I know what her stats say, and I know what other people might think, but that’s why I keep encouraging her to shoot the ball, and so do her teammates.”

Clark said: “I know that I can shoot the ball. Obviously, like Coach Mox said, the numbers might not show that, but it’s really just [about] staying confident, trusting myself. I’m in the gym all the time, before practice, after practice, just with the coaches, just putting up extra shots and on my own. So I know it’ll come.”

For Johnson, Sunday’s game marked the 12^th time this season that she’s scored at least 20 points in a game. One of her field goals was especially memorable. With 5:16 to play, she banked in a layup to put Virginia up 85-54. Moments later, fans erupted in applause when they saw on the Hoo Vision videoboard that Johnson had reached the 1,000-point mark for her career.

At the next break, Agugua-Hamilton hugged Johnson, a graduate of nearby St. Anne’s-Belfield School, and her teammates mobbed her in celebration.

“That was surreal, honestly,” said Johnson, who’s scored 1,002 points in her 60 games as a Cavalier. “I didn’t even know that I was close to my 1,000^th point. I wasn’t looking at the board, so when everyone started cheering, I was like, ‘What’s happening right now?’ … It’s a blessing. I wouldn’t be here without my team, my coaches, my family.”

The 33 points were two shy of her career high. Six came in a 21-second span of the fourth quarter. After Johnson hit a 3-pointer, she stole the ball and calmly sank another trey to push Virginia’s lead to 30.

“I trust my shot, I trust my teammates, I trust that someone’s going to crash when I shoot it, and I was feeling confident,” Johnson said.

About 90 seconds later, her sixth and final 3-pointer made it 79-48. Little Johnson does on the court surprises her coaches any more, Agugua-Hamilton said, “but there’s some plays where you’re just like, ‘Wow, that was pretty special.’ And I think that’s always gonna be the case. But she’s different, and the thing is, she can do it from anywhere. She’s a three-level scorer, but she’s also a facilitator.”

Agugua-Hamilton cited a pass from Johnson that led to a fast-break layup for Lattimore. “I looked at the bench and I was like, ‘That was pretty crazy.’ But then, just the way she shoots the ball and just the things she does, she’s just a nightmare for defense to guard. And then she also does it on the other end. She defends, she rebounds, so we’re just blessed to have her.”

To receive Jeff White’s articles by email, click the appropriate box in this link to subscribe.