Entering the fourth quarter Sunday at Virginia Tech, Virginia women’s basketball trailed by just five points. A high-stakes rivalry road battle was to be decided in the game’s final 10 minutes. A Commonwealth Clash win was ripe for the taking.
With that opportunity to firmly stabilize NCAA Tournament hopes for the time being, the Cavaliers (15-7, 7-4 ACC) stumbled in the fourth quarter — again. They were outscored by seven points in the final frame, resulting in a 76-64 loss.
Putting the cherry on top of another sour defeat for Virginia, freshman guard Gabby White missed consecutive free throws late to give the home fans free Smithfield bacon, and the afternoon concluded with “Enter Sandman” erupting from the booming loudspeakers at Cassell Coliseum.
In the symphony of this loss to the Hokies (18-5, 8-3 ACC), one of the leading instruments was the referee whistle. The Cavaliers could not overcome a whopping 28 team fouls.
Many of those fouls came inside the paint, a zone in which Virginia usually dominates via a national-best 7.8 blocks per game. The Cavaliers were called for a tsunami of fouls Sunday, and that physical interior defense became a frequent ticket to the free-throw line for Virginia Tech. The Hokies attempted 38 free throws in the game.
Over on the offensive end, Virginia’s offense was unable to keep pace with Virginia Tech. The most jarring symptom was that the Cavaliers as a team tallied just five assists in 40 minutes of play.
For context, Virginia entered Sunday averaging 19.4 assists per game — which ranks seventh nationally and leads the ACC. Crisp passing and ball movement are essential components of Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton’s offense. Those components were uncharacteristically and chronically absent against the Hokies.
Virginia Tech had two players record five assists entirely on their own in junior guard Carleigh Wenzel and sophomore guard Mackenzie Nelson. Both of those Hokies also scored in double figures alongside junior forward Carys Baker and sophomore guard Samyha Suffren.
As for the Cavalier scorers, junior guard Kymora Johnson led the team again with 19 points and three assists. Her primary co-star was White, who contributed 15 points and seven rebounds. Eight of White’s points came in the fourth quarter. Most of the other Virginia hoopers struggled in one area of play or another, though. Largely, talented veterans did not step up in the scoring department.
Senior guard Paris Clark was the third-leading Cavalier scorer with nine points, but she fouled out late and recorded three turnovers. Graduate guard Jillian Brown did not record a point, assist or rebound in 15 minutes of play — but she surrendered a turnover and was called for four personal fouls. Graduate guard Romi Levy nearly matched that stat line.
Meanwhile, Wenzel and Nelson combined for 38 points while Baker and Suffren provided additional offense. Wenzel drew fouls en masse, leading to her taking 20 free-throw attempts.
However, the fact that Virginia Tech attempted 38 free throws and Virginia only took 21 was not the sole reason for a Cavalier defeat. Virginia’s fourth-quarter struggles are perhaps the team’s largest chronic weakness. Again, the Cavaliers only trailed by two possessions entering the final quarter, only to be outscored by seven points in a game that could have gone the other way.
This fourth-quarter issue is not an anomaly.
Save for a dominant win over Pittsburgh Jan. 22, Virginia has largely trudged through a month-long slump. The current struggles started when it took double overtime for the Cavaliers to pull away at Florida State Jan. 4. The Seminoles are currently fifth-worst in the ACC standings.
Thursday, Virginia required three overtime periods to escape with a win at Wake Forest — a team currently positioned fourth-worst in the ACC. Then the Cavaliers stumbled late yet again at Virginia Tech. The Hokies have beaten Virginia in nine of their previous 12 matchups.
Softening that record with a win Sunday could have significantly helped the Cavaliers’ NCAA Tournament case. Instead, Virginia now sits on the wrong side of the bracket bubble — notably short in the quality road wins department.
There are now just seven games left in the regular season for the Cavaliers. All of them are against teams with winning records, which also rank inside the ACC’s top 12 teams. Virginia will play four of those remaining games at home, but the path to the NCAA Tournament is becoming increasingly narrower.
The chance to rebound comes Thursday as the Cavaliers take the court next at home against Miami at 7:00 p.m. — an evening duel that is a must-win contest for Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena.
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