Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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BY DUNCAN MCGRATH D uring the 2023-24 season, the Virginia women's basketball program took an important step forward. In Year 2 of Amaka Agu- gua-Hamilton's tenure as head coach, the Cavaliers showed noticeable improvements throughout the season, resulting in success the Cavaliers have not seen in recent years. For the first time since 2018, Virginia not only reached the postseason but also won a postseason game, finishing the season with a second-round appearance in the WBIT. UVA also improved in conference play, resulting in a three-win uptick while beat- ing some of the best teams in the league. To end the regular season, the Cavaliers picked up one of their best wins in several years, defeating No. 5-ranked Virginia Tech 80-75 at John Paul Jones Arena. The win over the Hokies was Virginia's first win over an Associated Press top-five team since the 2016-17 season. In total, the Cavaliers defeated four ranked teams, something Virginia has not done since the 2008-09 season. The Cavaliers also made a program-record 218 three-pointers and set a record for free throw shooting accuracy at 77.2 percent. The improvement of the Cavaliers led to an increase in excitement around the program among fans. For the win over the No. 5-ranked Hokies, Virginia drew a total of 11,975 fans, the highest attendance ever recorded for a women's college basketball game in the Commonwealth of Virginia. With all of the excitement surrounding the program going into Year 3 of the Agugua- Hamilton era, the team wants to continue to improve, especially to reach their goal of making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years. "We were a couple games away from the NCAA Tournament," Agugua-Hamilton said going into this year. "There were so many games that there were controllables where we could have probably changed the out- come if we just were detail-oriented and had the same energy and effort and intent. "Our returners were for the most part pretty young [last season] and learned a lot of lessons through all of that. They're very hungry." The return of several key contributors off last year's team should bolster Virginia's chances of taking an even bigger step forward this season. UVA's leading scorer, Kymora Johnson, is the headline returner. HUNG HUNGRY FOR MORE R MORE Head Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton Looks To Build On Momentum Of Last Year WINTER 2024-25 19 Agugua-Hamilton led the Cavaliers to the postseason last season, finishing the campaign with a second- round appearance in the WBIT. (Photo courtesy UVA)