Defeat is bitter. That feeling is exponentially increased when a given defeat is a complete blowout. Virginia women’s basketball was blown out Sunday at No. 3 Notre Dame. Facing one of the best teams in the nation on the road — with a large crowd that had barely any spectators donning orange and blue — the Cavaliers (8-6, 0-2 ACC) felt the sting of defeat even more when juxtaposed with a recent large donation and win against Coppin State hinting at a possible turning point for Virginia.
The Fighting Irish (11-2, 2-0 ACC) triumphed over the Cavaliers 95-54, showing that Virginia is still nowhere near where it needs to be in order to be considered a strong conference contender for future postseason matchups.
A 28-0 run is what solidified the victory for Notre Dame — a lead it achieved in just the first half of the game, and a lead that the Cavaliers simply could not match. With a shooting accuracy of 25 percent in the first half — making only one of the 10 attempts at a three-point shot — Virginia’s offense could not keep up. Additionally, the Cavaliers were outrebounded 32-15. Virginia was shown that it is leagues behind the top of the ACC.
Although the Cavaliers’ initial plays showed promise of a tighter matchup, even managing to tie the score halfway into the first quarter, this initial push rapidly fell apart. Multiple missed layups and three-point shots, even with second chances, showed a Virginia team that cannot consistently maintain its energy at the start of the first half — and it highlighted an offense that still needed a lot of work.
Having a break at halftime did not rejuvenate the Cavaliers like it usually does — it just left them more dejected. Sophomore forward Rylee Grays went up for a rebound early in the third quarter and fell awkwardly, gingerly walking off the court to recover. With players succumbing to injury and no one stepping up to use this frustration as energy, any efforts made to close the ever-growing gap were insufficient.
What also really hurt Virginia’s ability to shut down the Fighting Irish’s offense was its choice of defense. Playing against a team with multiple skilled shooters, pressure is required. Instead of shutting down the guards and wings, though, the Cavaliers initiated a cautious zone defense to keep the paint safe.
This strategy proved to be ineffective, as Notre Dame’s senior guard Sonia Cintron knocked down five three-point shots and scored 25 points by the end of the third quarter with ease. Sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo was not far behind, and eventually surpassed Cintron with 28 points of her own.
Virginia should have stepped up and forced man-to-man defense to keep the Fighting Irish on their toes, but instead the focus on a zone defense left Notre Dame too much room to shoot comfortably behind the three-point line. What looked like surprise on the Cavaliers’ faces should have been determination, as the Fighting Irish’s repeated offensive patterns should have signaled to Virginia that they were going to continue to execute the same movements until the Cavaliers caught on and stepped up to the line more.
Behind by more than half of the number of points at the start of the fourth quarter, Virginia was left to scramble. Players resorted to fouls in an attempt to stop the offense in the final period, but shooting accuracy had improved — plus the Cavaliers were still losing the rebounding battle.
While it can be argued that Virginia was expected to lose simply due to the fact the Fighting Irish has been performing well this season, there are still weaknesses that the Cavaliers have not addressed — such as the extremely low shooting percentage. This, ultimately, is what made the loss against Notre Dame so extreme.
Next, Virginia gets another chance to earn its first ACC win Thursday at Wake Forest — tipping off at 7:00 p.m. and broadcast on ACCNX. After an 0-2 start to ACC play, the Cavaliers will need to quickly recover and gain some ground in the conference standings following an abysmal showing against the Fighting Irish.
Read More
Five big questions for Virginia Athletics heading into 2025
By Ryan Weiner | YesterdayUncertainty looms as the calendar turns.
Men’s basketball rings in the new year, wins in dramatic fashion over NC State
By Emory Huffman | YesterdayThe Cavaliers pick up their first ACC win of the 2024-25 season.
Entering conference play, men’s basketball will have to show what it has learned
By Thomas Baxter | YesterdayWith the team playing five games in 16 days to start conference play, Sanchez’s team will have the chance to prove what, if anything, it has learned from its difficult start to the season.
