At ACC Tournament media availability Monday, Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said Clemson “can really shoot the ball,” and that defending the three-point line would be a priority.
It turned out Agugua-Hamilton was right — but still, Virginia was unable to stop that prolific shooting in a rematch against Coach Shawn Poppie’s squad.
The Cavaliers (19-11, 11-8 ACC) fell 63-50 to the Tigers (21-10, 11-7 ACC) in the second round of the ACC Tournament Thursday, primarily due to a major disparity behind the three-point line. While Virginia made just four of its 19 three-point attempts, Clemson sank a whopping 10 of its 20 shots from deep.
“I think early we were missing a lot of open shots, especially in the first half,” Agugua-Hamilton said postgame.
Most of the Cavalier bricks came from star junior guard Kymora Johnson, who was just named First Team All-ACC. Virginia’s leader, considered one of the top players in the conference, sank just two of her 11 three-point attempts. Johnson attempted 18 shots overall but finished the game with 12 points — a far cry from her season average of 19 points per contest.
“I think we just got to learn a lesson, unfortunately, through a loss, but we got to be more together,” Johnson said. “I'll take accountability for that and really lead my team the way I should have. But we got to be together, and we got to compete. I don't think we competed for 40 minutes.
When Johnson is not scoring at her usual clip, it is difficult for Virginia to beat quality opponents. The Cavaliers mainly managed to stay in the game through their strong interior defense.
Virginia asserted itself with a series of blocks in the game’s early minutes, keeping the Tigers out of the paint. However, Clemson quickly responded by making three-point shots and stretching out the Cavalier defense.
As Virginia scrambled to defend the three ball, the Tigers began to find openings in the interior of the Cavalier defense for easier jumpers. Those openings were not easy to come by, though. At halftime, Clemson held a slim 28-26 lead in a ridiculously low-scoring affair.
Virginia only hit 33 percent of its shots in the first half. The Tigers hit just 29 percent of theirs, but doubled the Cavaliers in threes and allowed just two turnovers compared to eight by Virginia. That made the difference.
“I think we got to take ownership of our part today,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “We weren't urgent for 40 minutes. We didn't, you know, stick to the gameplan. We didn't do the things that we could to control the outcome of that game.”
The third quarter did not begin much better for the Cavaliers as Clemson jumped ahead to take a 33-26 lead. The game was quickly getting away from Virginia — that is, until the Cavaliers responded with a 10-0 run. After a brief back-and-forth, Virginia held a 39-37 lead with 1:45 left to play in the third.
That would be the final Cavalier lead of the early afternoon.
The Tigers retook the lead through a pair of threes that ultimately became an 8-0 run. Senior guard Mia Moore then took over the fourth quarter with a 10-point frame. She finished with 19 points in just 22 minutes.
Virginia eventually found itself on the wrong end of a 63-50 loss.
The Cavaliers had ample chances to score — but left too many points on the table. Virginia attempted 11 more shots than Clemson but lost by double digits. A key component of that discrepancy was that the Cavaliers corralled 11 offensive rebounds but converted only 14 second-chance points.
Virginia received just 12 points from three starters combined in junior forward Sa’Myah Smith, graduate guard Romi Levy and senior forward Tabitha Amanze. Smith contributed 11 rebounds, but many other players were ineffective in multiple facets of play.
“Wasn't really expecting for us to play the way that we did,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “It was disappointing, but I do believe that we are still an NCAA Tournament team, and we've got to bounce back and get ready for that.”
With the loss, the Cavaliers now await the announcement of the NCAA Tournament bracket Sunday, March 15. ESPN analyst Charlie Creme projected Virginia as a No. 10 seed before the Clemson loss, and the Cavaliers could certainly stay there. Still, it is also possible that Virginia misses the NCAA Tournament once again.
If the Cavaliers fail to earn a spot in the bracket, the future of Agugua-Hamilton — and the program at-large — becomes cloudy.
“I’m hopeful that the season is not over, and that we will be in the NCAA Tournament, because I think we deserve to [be in the bracket],” Agugua-Hamilton said.
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