WBB: Cavaliers bounce back, trounce Highlanders, 83-41

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Fueled by an electrifying first quarter, Virginia powered past Radford on its way to an 83-41 win on Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Cavaliers (2-1) never trailed in the game and were led offensively by sophomore guard Kymora Johnson (17 pts, 6-10 FG, 5 ast). Yonta Vaughn (14 pts, 4-12 FG, 5 ast, 3 stl) shined in her first action of the 2024-25 season providing a nice lift for the UVA guards.

The Cavaliers spread the scoring around as four total players hit double figures. Breona Hurd (11 pts, 4-13 FG, 4 reb) and Olivia McGhee (11 pts, 5-11 FG, 2 ast) each surpassed the 10-point threshold in addition to Johnson and Vaughn. Defensively, the Hoos recorded 16 total steals led by junior guard Paris Clark (9 pts, 4-7 FG, 6 ast, 4 stl).

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Cavaliers found their rhythm from the opening tip jumping out to a six-point advantage after connecting on three of their first four attempts. Paris Clark nabbed a pair of steals early, resulting in four quick points and forcing a Radford timeout with Virginia holding a 10-3 advantage. In the opening quarter, the Hoos were led by Kymora Johnson who was a perfect 3 for 3 from the floor. Yonta Vaughn connected on a pair of three pointers as the Cavaliers shot 52-percent (10 for 19) in the opening frame.

The teams traded blows in the second quarter of action as the Highlanders (1-3) chipped away at the Cavalier lead getting as close as 15 points [35-20]. The Cavaliers pulled away once again ending the half on an 8-3 scoring run ignited by an Olivia McGhee turnaround jumper followed by back-to-back three-pointers from Johnson on the fastbreak. UVA ended the half with a 45-23 lead.

The Cavaliers outscored Radford by margin of 19-12 in the third period and once again finished strong. With under a minute remaining in the quarter, Casey Valenti-Paea drove hard to the basket and finished through contact to convert a three-point play. Applying full-court pressure, the Cavaliers forced a turnover on the inbound pass resulting in a Hurd layup to extend the Cavalier lead to 32 points [64-33].

Virginia never looked back in the fourth, outscoring Radford, 19-6. With 6:51 left to play, the Cavaliers kickstarted a 16-2 run to end the game, highlighted by a Lattimore steal on the defensive end. After a spin at half court, she kicked to McGhee who made the extra pass to set up Johnson at the basket.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Four Cavaliers scored in double figures: Johnson (17), Vaughn (14), Hurd (11), McGhee (11)
• Yonta Vaughn made her first appearance of the 2024-25 season scoring 14 points, two shy of a career-high
• As a team, Virginia recorded 16 total steals, marking the first time the team has tallied 15 or more steals since the 2022-23 season (15 vs UNCW).
• Three Cavaliers recorded multiple steals including Paris Clark (4), Johnson (3), Vaughn (3) and Latasha Lattimore (2)
• Lattimore pulled down 10 rebounds to match a career-high
• Virginia scored 35 points off turnovers and 22 off fast breaks
• UVA shot 43.8 percent from the field while holding Radford to mark of 34 percent
• The Cavaliers outrebounded their opponents by a margin of 45-31
• Johnson went 6 for 10 from the floor to record the 200th field goal of her career
• Virginia improves to 9-8 in the all-time series with Radford

FROM HEAD COACH AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON

“That was a great way to bounce back. Our scoring was spread around, we dominated the game for 40 minutes and that was what we wanted to do. We didn’t want to let up at all. We didn’t want to get complacent. We kept fighting and held them to six points in the fourth quarter. There’s definitely a lot of growth in that game.”

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers return to action on Sunday, when they host La Salle. Tipoff from John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).