Ladies’s basketball beats Pittsburgh, wins first ACC Event sport since 2019 – College of Virginia The Cavalier Every day

Leaders lead. Or a minimum of, they need to. Virginia’s undoubtedly did Wednesday, as they stepped as much as declare victory over Pittsburgh. For the Cavaliers (17-14, 8-10 ACC), their high 4 leaders in factors per sport dominated. With a 64-50 win over the Panthers (13-19, 5-13 ACC), Virginia stored its season alive.
The triumph is very candy, as a result of profitable on the ACC Event in Greensboro, N.C. has been fairly troublesome for the Cavaliers. They’d not gained a convention event bout since 2019. The latest ACC Event loss in 2024 was particularly irritating. Virginia was upset by Wake Forest within the 2024 ACC Event after blowing a double-digit lead.
Nonetheless, the stinging losses weren’t on Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton’s thoughts. 
“We’re making an attempt to play for one thing proper now,” Agugua-Hamilton mentioned postgame. “Attempting to get into postseason, play our means into the NCAA Event. We now have massive targets. Clearly take it one sport at a time. [The 2024 loss to Wake Forest] wasn’t in our head. It was understood.”
Undeterred by these earlier losses, sophomore guard Kymora Johnson captained the offense as per standard. Recent off of being named First Staff All-ACC Tuesday, she led all gamers with 17 factors and 7 assists. Johnson was Virginia’s rock — as she performed in 39 of the sport’s 40 minutes. 
Nonetheless, Virginia began slowly. They held a razor-thin 14-12 lead after the primary quarter, and solely three Cavaliers scored. After 10 minutes of play, Johnson and senior ahead Latasha Lattimore — who had Virginia’s solely unfavourable plus-minus rating — had but to attain. 
Coming into the second quarter, the Cavaliers wanted to determine some momentum. Proper on cue, they did simply that — starting the quarter with a 10-0 scoring run. That swift surge was fueled, partially, by freshman ahead Breona Hurd. 
Hurd didn’t begin, however rapidly usurped the enjoying time of sophomore ahead Edessa Noyan. The latter struggled all through the sport, and finally fouled out. Noyan contributed simply two factors in 22 minutes of play. Nonetheless, that didn’t damage Virginia in any respect. Hurd saved a few of her finest basketball for the postseason — ending with 15 factors and 7 rebounds. 
Hurd and Johnson had been the one Cavaliers to attain within the second quarter. On the opposite finish, junior guard Marley Washenitz had no drawback carrying the load for Pittsburgh. She torched Virginia for eight factors in a single quarter — and the Cavaliers’ progress was decreased to only a four-point lead getting into halftime.
Virginia needed to claw its means by way of 20 pivotal minutes of basketball. 20 pivotal minutes would alter the course of the season — both the Cavaliers would earn one other sport, or go winless within the ACC Event for a sixth straight 12 months and could possibly be despatched to the offseason filled with disappointment. With the season on the road, Virginia delivered. Johnson, Hurd and junior guard Paris Clark all tallied six factors. Lattimore joined the celebration as effectively, and broke her scoring drought with 4 factors within the quarter. 
The Cavaliers held a 12-point lead getting into the fourth quarter, and by no means relinquished their herculean grip on it. 
Lattimore closed the competition by making all 4 of her area objective makes an attempt within the fourth quarter — and Virginia cruised to a snug win. For the primary time since 2019, the Cavaliers superior to the second spherical of the ACC Event.
“Very happy with our group,” Agugua-Hamilton mentioned. “I believed it was an important group effort. That first sport is all the time about getting settled within the event, getting the jitters out, so I used to be actually glad to see us try this.”
Victory apart, a brand new problem awaits virtually instantly. Thursday, the Cavaliers tackle California. Earlier this season, Feb. 20, Virginia lost a heated battle with the Golden Bears at John Paul Jones Area by a rating of 70-76. 
“We did quite a lot of issues unsuitable in that sport,” Agugua-Hamilton mentioned. “However we did compete. So we perceive there’s room to develop. So we’ll get again and watch the movie with the gamers.”
The rematch ideas off at 5:00 p.m. on ACC Community, so there is not going to be oodles of time for Virginia to check up on its newest opponent. Nonetheless, the burning want for revenge is actually on the minds of those Cavaliers. Using a four-game profitable streak, they may purpose to extend it to 5 straight wins. 
Even so, the objective for the time being is to go 1-0 day by day. Wednesday, Virginia did that. Tomorrow is a brand new day, and a brand new alternative to proceed incomes one other 40 minutes of basketball.
By way of the medium of sports activities, a gaggle of feminine arm wrestlers elevate help for charities.
With one common season sport left, the win over Florida State might bode effectively for Virginia’s seeding in subsequent week’s convention event.
The Cavaliers compiled a 10-run inning, and finally run-ruled the Tribe.
Editor’s Word: This episode was recorded on Feb. 17, so some celebratory occasions talked about within the podcast have already handed.
Hashim O. Davis, the assistant dean of the OAAA and director of the Luther Porter Jackson Black Cultural Heart, discusses the relevance and significance of  “Celebrating Resilience,” OAAA’s theme for this 12 months’s Black Historical past Month celebration.

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