Fueled by an unstoppable scoring output, Virginia women’s basketball started the 2024-25 season off with an incredible victory over American. The Cavaliers (1-0, 0-0 ACC) crushed the Eagles (0-1, 0-0 Patriot League) 104-68 in front of a rocking crowd at John Paul Jones Arena. Several playmakers stepped up to guide Virginia to a win — a trend that could dictate further success in the 2024-2025 season.
Freshman forward Breona Hurd — the No. 93 recruit in the high school class of 2024 — was a major highlight. In her first game with the Cavaliers, Hurd dropped 18 points, six rebounds and two assists. Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton was nothing but excited for her.
“Bre [Breona Hurd] is like a Swiss army knife out there,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “She can just play, you know, any position, basically two through four. And you know, she has such a high motor, rebounds and pushes with pace. She can hit open shots, things like that. She can drive it. So I love her versatility.”
However, Hurd was not the only one with a commanding performance. Sophomore guard Kymora Johnson had herself a day on the court as well, terrorizing the Eagles behind the three point line. The guard had 21 points, nine assists, and showed poise at the foul line, sinking all six of her free throw attempts. Johnson exuded nothing but confidence when asked about what was going through her head on the court that night.
“Just keep shooting,” Johnson said. “I worked on consistency during the off season, just getting a lot of reps up and just trusting my work, trusting that my teammates are gonna have my back if I miss.”
Entering this matchup, both Virginia and American suffered hard losses at the tail end of their 2023-2024 campaigns. The Cavaliers fell short against Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament, and the Eagles lost a nail biter against Bucknell. However, Agugua-Hamilton’s squad was determined to redeem themselves early on this season — and they did just that.
“You know, obviously 104 is a lot of points,” Coach Agugua-Hamilton said. “I'm really proud of our offensive execution today…I thought we played with pace the way we wanted to.”
That controlled pace was present early and often — the Cavaliers came out swinging with a clear offensive rhythm that could be seen in the first quarter. Virginia quickly took a commanding 8-0 run and Agugua-Hamilton’s offense was humming along.
Although Virginia headed into the second quarter up 26-12, dread swept over the crowd a few mins later as Hurd headed to the locker room with an athletic trainer. Thankfully, she was able to return — and reassured fans with a quick six points after reentering. At the end of the second quarter, Virginia held a comfortable 51-25 lead.
Despite halftime providing some reprieve for American in the form of a break, the Cavaliers were still hot. Senior forward transfer Latasha Lattimore found her footing within the first few minutes after struggling in the first half, scoring nine points for Virginia. Sophomore guard Olivia McGhee then extended the lead further by scoring her first three-point shot of the game. Soon after, she stole the ball and cashed in the layup — jolting the crowd to their feet out of excitement.
This dominance poured into the final quarter of the game with junior guard Paris Clark coming out and hitting an electric three-point shot immediately. Towards the end of the quarter, Virginia went on a 15 point run, with the help of Lattimore and graduate student center Taylor Lauterbach — who scored six points within the final minutes. Lauterbach also netted the 100th point which sent the home crowd into raucous cheers.
The Cavaliers finished out their home opener with a score of 104 to 68, sending the Eagles back D.C. with an embarrassing loss on their record. Agugua-Hamilton expressed her pleasure with the team in the postgame press conference, where she explained her hopes for the rest of the season.
“I don't want us to play the front of anybody's jersey. I want us to play our game, play with pace and execute in half court,” Agugua-Hamilton said.
Virginia executed Agugua-Hamilton’s plan to perfection. Alongside other dominant Cavaliers, McGhee proved to no longer be wet behind the ears —- starting out her second season with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists. Freshman guard Payton Dunbar also had an impactful debut with nine points and three assists. Earning the start at center, Lauterbach stepped up as well, totaling 13 rebounds and eight points.
Although the Cavaliers had a dominating performance throughout the game, Virginia still has some things to clean up going into the remainder of the season. The team went through waves where they would struggle to make something happen on offense, missing many wide open shots, while also having some sloppy defensive mistakes at times.
Even so, the positive takeaways greatly outweighed the negatives as the Cavaliers displayed great stamina, teamwork and talent, making free throws and being aggressive in the paint. It should be exciting to see where the season goes for Agugua-Hamilton’s bunch and if this opener was truly a preview for what is to come.
Up next, Virginia will hit the road for a crucial showdown at No. 10 Oklahoma Friday — tipping off at 9:00 PM. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network. Last year, Agugua-Hamilton and her Cavaliers fell to the Sooners at home 82-67 — but will now look for revenge off the heels of Monday’s strong showing.
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