With the holiday season in full swing and a 10-day break in the rearview mirror, Virginia returned to John Paul Jones Arena Saturday to take on Winthrop. The Cavaliers (9-3, 1-0 ACC) annihilated the Eagles (7-7, 0-0 BSC) 88-53. Virginia controlled the game from start to finish, but it was a monster 41-point showing by junior guard Kymora Johnson that ultimately turned a commanding win into a demolition derby.
The first quarter started slow as Virginia struggled to find its rhythm. Up 8-4 halfway through the quarter — six of those points belonging to Johnson — the television timeout was a chance to regroup.
Out of the timeout, freshman guard Gabby White stole the ball, streaking back down the court to get her first bucket of the game. Senior guard Paris Clark followed it up with a three-point shot. By the end of the first, the score was 19-6 as the Cavaliers moved fast in transition to get their offense moving.
Heading into the second quarter, things remained shaky for Virginia. Winthrop began to gain some steam as star junior guard Amourie Porter scored five points to narrow the lead to only eight points. Just like the beginning of the first, the Cavaliers appeared to slow down.
However, whenever Virginia needed someone to resuscitate the offense, Johnson always had just the thing. Sprinting down the court, she passed the ball to Clark who quickly passed it back to her, knocking down a deep three-point shot. Just 24 seconds later, graduate guard Jillian Brown drilled a three of her own, bringing the offense to life once again.
But the Eagles kept it interesting. Porter led the charge, keeping the Cavaliers’ lead at a manageable level. Even as Johnson consistently knocked down shots, finishing the first half with three made threes, the lead remained steady at 10 points.
At the start of the second half, the Cavaliers needed a well-rounded 20 minutes of basketball — but the third quarter failed to clear that bar. Opening with two quick field goals from senior forward Tabitha Amanze, it looked like a fiery start — quickly, though, the fire began to spread into chaos.
With three turnovers by each team in less than a minute, the court was in a frenzy, Johnson trying to recover the ball while Porter was trying to knock it out. A media timeout helped settle both teams, getting the game back on track.
So it was for Virginia as the Cavaliers finally began to fully distance themselves from Winthrop. By the end of the third, Virginia had its largest lead of the game at 18, cruising into the final 10 minutes on an offensive roll.
The fourth quarter looked like a completely different game as Virginia returned to its bread and butter — getting inside the paint and notching easy buckets. While everyone contributed, the most notable points came from Johnson, who recorded five three-pointers from all over the court. In fact, every time she got her hands on the ball, spectators could be seen standing up with their hands in the air, anticipating the outcome.
By the game’s conclusion, Virginia held a 35-point lead, scoring 29 points in the fourth. Johnson finished the game with 41 points, her season high, and shot 10-13 from three, a personal and JPJ arena record. With record-breaking performances such as this one, the preseason All-ACC selection continues to cement herself as a true star.
“That was an amazing performance for Mo,” Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said. “10 for 13 from the three, most threes made in JPJ by a U.Va. player, second most points by a women's basketball player, that's just elite.”
Virginia gets another break for the holiday before returning to JPJ Dec. 29 against SMU. If the Cavaliers keep scoring like they did Saturday, they have a chance to end 2025 on a positive note.
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