Huge second half propels Hoos to 74-49 win over Campbell

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia earned its second win of the season after holding Campbell to just 14 points in the second half, including five in the fourth quarter, in the Cavaliers’ 74-49 victory at John Paul Jones Arena Sunday afternoon.

UVA (2-0) trailed 35-29 at the half, but five different Cavaliers finished the contest scoring in double figures. Camryn Taylor (5-12 FG, 6-6 FT) scored a game-high 16 points and Kymora Johnson (7-14 FG) tallied 15 points, dished out seven assists and pulled down six rebounds. London Clarkson (12 points, 3-7 FG, 6-6 FT), Jillian Brown (12 points, 3-12 FG, 6-6 FT) and Alexia Smith (4-6 FG, 6 rebounds) rounded out double-digit scorers for the Hoos.

With the win, the Cavaliers improved to 13-0 against non-conference opponents under head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

Campbell (2-1) led 10-4 halfway through the first quarter before the Hoos held the Fighting Camels scoreless for the remainder of the period. The Cavaliers closed out the first by scoring 13 straight points to lead it 17-10. Johnson led all scorers in period No. 1 with six points on 3-of-5 shooting.

Johnson, Taylor and Edessa Noyan all picked up their second personal foul in the second, forcing all three to sit until halftime. In their absence, Campbell went on to outscore the Cavaliers 25-12 in the second quarter, including the final 10 points, to cling to a 35-29 lead at the break.

Early into the third, Campbell made back-to-back 3-pointers to go up by seven [42-35] before the Cavaliers claimed 14 unanswered to flip the score. Eight of those Cavalier points came in transition, including a pair of free throws by Olivia McGhee that tied the game [42-42]. The Fighting Camels scored just nine points in the third quarter on 3-of-11 shooting and committed eight turnovers.

The Cavaliers continued to pour it on in the fourth as UVA scored the first 19 points of the quarter to grasp a 70-44 lead. Taylor, who had an exceptional fourth quarter in the Cavaliers’ season-opening win over Maryland Eastern Shore, dropped 10 of her 16 points in Sunday’s fourth period. Virginia shot 9-of-15 from the floor in the fourth, while the Camels connected on just one of their 16 attempts.

FROM UVA HEAD COACH AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON 

“It feels good to be 2-0. I thought that was a really good game for us, [it] challenged us defensively in the first half and we had to really lock down and get back to our principles, [and] get back to playing how we practice. I thought our team really responded. I challenged a few players [at] halftime, Lex [Alexia Smith] in particular, because she’s one of our defensive stoppers and I didn’t think she was doing that in the first half, [but] she really was a huge spark in the second half for us. Our bigs did great, especially in the second half defensively, they shut down number 32 and I just really liked how our team responded. Halftime … I didn’t like how we were playing in the first half. We were in foul trouble. We weren’t really being us, but the second half was more of us.”

GAME NOTES 

• With the win, Virginia extended its lead in the series with Campbell, 3-1, and has won the last three meetings, all of which have been in Charlottesville. 
• The Cavaliers are now 2-0 for the second consecutive year under head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton.
• UVA improved to 13-0 against non-conference foes under Agugua-Hamilton.
• Virginia had five players score in double figures for the first time since last year’s win over UMBC (Brunelle 21, Taylor 15, McLean 13, Clarkson 10, Vaughn) on Nov. 10, 2022.
• The Cavaliers tallied 20 points off turnovers, while Campbell managed just six.

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers return to John Paul Jones Arena to host William & Mary on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).