Fresh off a celebratory senior night at John Paul Jones Arena, Virginia played spoiler in Southern Methodist’s final home game Thursday. In contrast to Sunday’s contest, though, it appeared the Cavaliers (15-14, 7-10 ACC) would have to find a way to win without the offensive production of star sophomore guard Kymora Johnson.
Johnson, who etched her 1,000th career point to cap off a 33-point explosion in her last outing, entered the fourth quarter of Thursday’s game having made none of her nine shot attempts. However, in crunch time, Johnson caught fire — and sunk the Mustangs (10-19, 2-15 ACC) to hand them their 14th straight loss.
Despite being held in check on offense for the majority of the game, Johnson still found a way to get involved by bringing intensity to the defensive end all night. She grabbed 10 rebounds, two steals and her third block of the season.
With just five minutes to play, Johnson’s hustle would reward her when she stepped in front of an SMU passing lane and stole the ball, taking it coast to coast for an and-one layup. After sinking the subsequent free throw to collect three points the old-fashioned way, Johnson drained a three-point shot on the next possession to put Virginia ahead 56-43 — a dagger to the Mustangs, who had been able to cut the lead to single digits.
Johnson’s gravity on offense also remained constant whether or not her shots were dropping, drawing extra help defenders and freeing up teammates for open looks en route to seven assists. Two Cavaliers that Johnson found frequently were freshman forward Breona Hurd, who scored 16 points, and senior forward Latasha Lattimore, who added 15 points. That pair that paced Virginia in scoring.
Overall though, the Cavaliers had to get the job done in a way they were not used to this season. Shooting just 19.2 percent from three-point range and 39.7 percent from the field is not typically the recipe for success, however, Virginia played some of its most stout defense of the year — allowing just the second fewest points of its ACC play.
Another bright spot for the Cavaliers was the quality minutes that freshman guard Payton Dunbar played in the rotation. Dunbar, who had not played more than three minutes in a contest since Dec. 8, played nine minutes Thursday. She knocked down a three-point shot and forced a traveling violation on freshman guard Kayanna Cox. While Dunbar’s stat sheet may not be eye-popping, her ability to hold her own on defense while providing a threat from the outside gave Hurd and Lattimore plenty of space to operate in the paint.
With the win, Virginia earned its fourth road win in a row and got its overall record above .500. The Cavaliers will face No. 8 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. Sunday at 2 p.m. to close out the regular season. While Virginia has already locked up a spot in the ACC Tournament, it will still be playing for seeding and momentum heading into the postseason.
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