WBB: Johnson sparks UVA’s 85-50 win over Alabama State

By Scott Ratcliffe

The Virginia women’s basketball team picked up its third straight victory Wednesday at John Paul Jones Arena, downing Alabama State by an 85-50 margin.

Playing without a pair of injured starters (Paris Clark, Edessa Noyan), the Cavaliers were still able to control the contest as they moved to 4-1 on the season.

“Individually, and as a team, I think we’re getting better,” said head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton after the victory. “I love to see the scoring spread around, assists, get back to rebounding and dominating the boards some, but there’s still areas to improve, and we’re going to continue to do that.”

UVA got off to a fast start and never looked back, using a 20-0 scoring spurt that bridged the first and second quarters to gain separation from the Lady Hornets (2-2).

Second-year point guard Kymora Johnson led the way with 22 points (9 for 11 FG; 3 for 5 from long range), 5 rebounds, 6 assists and a pair of steals.

“Shooting 9 for 11 is really, really good,” Coach Mox said of Johnson’s performance. “Obviously that’s very efficient, and her numbers are good — I don’t want to jinx you — but so far, her numbers have been great, and that’s something we talked about in the offseason, that’s something she wanted to do, just bring her efficiency up a little bit, her decision-making, and I think we’re seeing that out on the court.”

Miami transfer forward Latasha Lattimore posted her second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds to go along with her game-highs of 4 steals and 3 blocks on the defensive end.

“I have a lot of potential, I just have to reach out and see it in myself,” Lattimore admitted, adding that Coach Mox stays on her in practice about improving her rebounding ability. “Just trying to help my team out as much as I can in little ways, and rebounding, stretching the floor, running the floor, all the little things I can do just to make sure that my team comes out with the win.”

First-year forward Breona Hurd just barely missed her first career double-double, finishing with 13 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, while Olivia McGee chipped in with 12 points off the bench.

ASU senior forward Cordasia Harris — who recorded a pair of double-doubles herself in her first two games of the season — trimmed an early UVA lead to 11-7 at the media break midway through the opening quarter.

From there, the Wahoos scored 20 unanswered points over the next eight-plus minutes, highlighted by a wide-open McGee corner triple and capped off by a Taylor Lauterbach jumper that made it 31-7 with 7:47 left in the first half.

Payton Dunbar and Hurd joined the party, with each knocking down a 3-pointer in the second quarter. Johnson dazzled the JPJ crowd with a coast-to-coast layup and later faked a pass to split two defenders before putting home an easy bucket, and the Hoos led by 30, 49-19, at the break.

The Lady Hornets went on a 7-0 run early in the third quarter, prompting a timeout from Coach Mox to get her squad to refocus. The Cavaliers responded with triples from Johnson and Hurd before enduring a scoring drought of over four minutes, but ASU was unable to get within 20 points.

Johnson sank a 3-ball to beat the third-quarter horn and give Virginia a comfortable 66-38 advantage heading into the fourth, where the Hoos maintained their big lead until the final buzzer. When asked about the scoring output over the last few games, Johnson explained that she’s really just having fun out there.

“It’s been fun,” the Charlottesville native said with a giggle. “Fun to get out there with my teammates, fun to have them encouraging me, fun to feel the confidence that they’ve instilled in me, but most of all, just fun to get the wins and keep pushing.”

UVA shot 49 percent on the evening (29 for 59), including 35 percent from downtown (9 for 26). The Hoos made 18 of their 27 free throws (67 percent), won the rebounding battle (48 to 34) and scored 16 points off of 22 Hornets turnovers, recording 15 steals and 6 blocks along the way. Virginia outscored Alabama State, 22-4, on fast-break opportunities and 34-20 in the paint.

“We’ve got to get our turnovers down,” Coach Mox said, as the Hoos gave it away 20 times themselves, which led to 15 points on the other end. “Free throws have got to get better, defensive rebounds, things like that. Overall, I thought it was a good game.”

ASU was held to 28-percent shooting from the field (18 of 65) and 24 percent (6 for 25) from 3-point land. Solangelei Akridge led the Hornets with 15 points, while Alanah Pooler added 13 and Harris had 10.

UP NEXT

The Hoos will host Bethune-Cookman on Sunday, with the opening tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m. on ACC Network.