After a stagnant offense resulted in a historic upset loss to UMBC Thursday, Virginia is not dwelling on the past. Sunday, the Cavaliers (3-1, 0-0 ACC) regained their rhythm against Radford, shooting an efficient 40 percent from three-point range and 45 percent from the floor in a commanding victory at John Paul Jones Arena.
“Playing at home against UMBC, that was not a great game for us, and it didn't really reflect what kind of team we are and what kind of team we're going to be,” Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said. “So we had to learn through that hard loss, but everybody stayed positive, everybody stayed together and believed in themselves.”
Sunday, that resilience particularly came to light in Virginia’s rebounding.
In a breakout performance, senior Tabitha Amanze led the team in points and rebounds, achieving a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds — 11 of which were on the offensive glass.
“It was great to see Tabby really just assert herself there in the paint. 21 and 12 was huge, Agugua-Hamilton said. That's what I've known she could do since day one. I'm happy to see her do that and come into her own.”
Beyond Amanze’s dominance, Virginia rallied around the glass — the Cavaliers outrebounded the Highlanders (2-3, 0-0 Big South) by a margin of 48-19 and scored an impressive 28 points in second-chance opportunities.
“We want to be able to dominate the boards on both ends,” Agugua-Hamilton said.
The Cavaliers' rhythm, especially from beyond the arc, was a testament to their confidence as a unit. Junior Kymora Johnson steered the offense with eight assists, contributing to the team’s 19, and senior Paris Clark provided some spark near the end of the first with seven quick points. Another highlight from off the bench was 6-foot-5 forward Adeang Ring, who drained two key second-half triples to extend Virginia’s lead even further.
“I think we’ve always been a great shooting team, like in practice, we hit threes every day,” Ring said. “We work on our shots where there's individual workouts or in practice, so it’s just a matter of everything falling into place.”
Much of what allowed Virginia’s offense to fall into place was its disruption on the defensive end. In the first quarter, the Cavaliers began full-court pressure from the jump. The on-ball defensive pressure destabilized the Highlanders’ offense — and the Cavaliers capitalized on it, scoring 20 points off turnovers.
“We wanted to start with the press, just to serve ourselves early. We just wanted to be the aggressor,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “We just wanted to kind of control the game and set the game and set the tone from the beginning.”
Despite struggling to take care of the ball — Virginia committed 15 turnovers — the Cavaliers’ patience and composure on both sides of the floor proved to be one of the most impressive aspects of the matchup. By extending possessions through sheer rebounding intensity, Virginia steadied its offense, found the mismatches inside, and knocked down the high-percentage shots.
“I was just really happy with how we came out and competed and dominated the game on both sides,” Agugua-Hamilton said.
Virginia will have a chance to keep the momentum going this Thursday at John Paul Jones Arena against Longwood at 6 pm.
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