Cavaliers fall short to UNC in WBB, meanwhile softball earns another victory

WBB

The Virginia Cavaliers Women's Basketball team rode a lot of momentum after gaining a massive victory Sunday night against the #8 Louisville Cardinals. Kymora Johnson had 16 points, Paris Clarke had 14 with 8 assists and 6 rebounds, and Tabitha Amanze had 3 blocks. The Cavaliers getting their 11th conference win came at a great time entering a week where #21 UNC and Virginia Tech come into town. UNC having one more conference win than Virginia and a big clutter towards the top of the conference, the stage was set; the UNC game was a big one for Coach Mox and company.

The Tar Heels came to play early grabbing an early lead from multiple contributors including Nyla Harris, Lanie Grant, and Taliyah Henderson. The three ball was flying for North Carolina and was very efficient (will mention more later), shooting 3 of 5 from 3 in the first quarter.

Kymora Johnson got going in the second quarter for the Wahoo's shooting 2-3. However, once again the Tar Heels continued to kill from 3 shooting 5-7. Nyla Brooks alone went 3-3 from the perimeter, joining Elina Aarnisalo who went 2-2.

Early in the third quarter came UNC's biggest lead of the game when they went ahead after Nyla Harris making 2 free throws making it a 22-point game (47-25). North Carolina would continue to dominate throughout the third quarter in what felt like an expanded rim on the Carolina side.

Virginia would slowly mount a comeback in the 4th quarter getting the lead as far down as 9 after Romi Levy's three point shot and making it 9 again after Kymora Johnson made a quick layup. That was as close as it would get after North Carolina continued to hit more 3s and make key stops. The Tar Heels would win 82-70.

North Carolina made history Thursday night on multiple levels. Number one three pointers made in program history, the Tar Heels hit 16 threes and shot 67% from the perimeter, unreal numbers. Secondly, UNC achieved for the first time in program history back-to-back 13 conference win seasons under Coach Courtney Banghart.

"We knew they could shoot it; we have played other teams that can shoot like that too like Notre Dame, they just got hot," Coach Mox said postgame. She was asked about the fact every time UVA went on a slight run UNC would go on to hit a big shot, "They capitalized on our mistakes, whether it was rotations or even just hitting big shots, they took advantage of our defense." Virginia needs to move on quickly as it has arguably the biggest game of the year Sunday when the Hokies of Virginia Tech come to town at high noon to play Virginia. Both teams have 11 conference wins as of Thursday night so a massive game for both teams for ACC Tournament seeding and for bragging rights in the Commonwealth Clash. "We need to trust in each other, trust in this coaching staff, we know how good we can be, we just beat Louisville, we just got to bounce back," said Romi Levy postgame when asked about moving on to the next matchup.

Softball

Meanwhile at Palmer Park early Thursday afternoon, Virginia earned a 9-6 victory over the George Mason Patriots.

Things got started early for the Cavaliers in the bottom of the first when Bella Cabral blasted a 3 run home run to deep Centerfield off of Patriots pitcher Abbey Lane. This was a response to George Mason taking an early lead in the top of the first off of a 2RBI single from Kaleigh Friend.

After George Mason took a 4-3 lead, UVA would then go on to score 4 unanswered runs. Jade Hylton played a pretty big factor in that, hitting a single that scored 2 runs, and then tripling in the 4th to drive in a run. Kassidy Hudson would then hit a ground ball to second that scored Hylton.

The Cavaliers led 7-4 before George Mason in the 5th created some offense scoring 2 runs making it a one run game. However, any possible comeback was shut down by none other than Bella Cabral again with a solo bomb to left field. Hannah Weismer would then homer in the 6th to get some extra insurance for the 'Hoos. Virginia would win 9-6.

On the pitching side, the Cavaliers were led by Taylor Smith who earned her second win of the year. She relieved Ava Hodges and went three and a third striking out 6 only giving up 2 earned runs. Eden Bingham earned the save for Virginia going 2 and a third innings earning 6 strikeouts herself.

The Cavaliers move forward to The Party at Palmer Invitational containing opponents such as Michigan, Bucknell, and Villanova.