Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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20 CAVALIER CORNER After averaging 15.3 points per game, the Charlottesville native received second-team All-ACC honors and was also named to the ACC All-Freshman team. As a first-year, Johnson led the team in scoring, assists (172), steals (56) and three-pointers made (60). She started all 32 games, led the team in minutes played (31.0 per game), and was even second on the team in rebounding (4.7 per contest). The 5-foot-7 point guard looks to have even more success this season leading Virginia's backcourt, potentially being one of the best guards in all of college basketball. "I think mentally she's had a huge jump," Agugua-Hamilton said, "because she was thrown in the fire as a first-year and that's not easy, especially being a point guard." The Cavaliers also return a couple of other key members of their backcourt go- ing into this season. Virginia's third-leading scorer, Paris Clark, returns after averag- ing 9.9 points per game last season. The 5-foot-8 third-year appeared in 29 games, starting in 26. Second-year Olivia McGhee and third-year Yonta Vaughn are also poised to have a bigger role in a Virginia backcourt that will look to go up-tempo often this season. Agugua-Hamilton expects Virginia's guards to "play very, very fast" this season. "Now they have people that are running with them and they feel like we can kind of get the looks we're looking for in transition," the head coach added. "But then defen- sively we can do more things I think that we haven't done in the past just because of the length and athleticism." "In practice, I'm blown away by how fast we get up and down the floor, how many rebounds we get and that sort of thing," Johnson noted. In the frontcourt, Virginia will have to replace Camryn Taylor, one of the more productive post players in the ACC. Taylor led the team in rebounding (6.1), finished second on the team in scoring (14.8), and was second on the team in blocked shots (23). Replacing her will certainly be one of the biggest challenges for Agugua-Hamilton this upcoming season. The Cavaliers will also have to replace Sam Brunelle and London Clarkson, two of the veteran leaders of the team. Last sea- son, Brunelle led the team in blocked shots (25) and finished second on the team in three-pointers made (39). Clarkson started in 14 games, scoring 6.4 points per game on 45.6 percent shooting from the field. Of the returners, 6-foot-7 Taylor Lauter- bach will look to take a leap this season. Lauterbach played sparingly last season but should see an increased role as a gradu- ate student. The Cavaliers also bring back second-year Edessa Noyan. She led the team last year in shooting percentage, mak- ing 50.0 percent from the floor. A couple of key transfer additions will also help Virginia this season, headlined 2024-25 UVA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Nov. 4 American W, 104-68 Nov. 8 at Oklahoma L, 95-51 Nov. 13 Radford W, 83-41 Nov. 17 La Salle W, 76-47 Nov. 20 Alabama State W, 85-50 Nov. 24 Bethune-Cookman W, 82-48 Nov. 28 vs. Green Bay# W, 66-61 Nov. 29 vs. Washington State# L, 75-74 Nov. 30 vs. Wyoming# L, 71-66 Dec. 5 Auburn^ (ACCN) 6 p.m. Dec. 8 Boston College* (ACCNX) 2 p.m. Dec. 17 Maryland-Eastern Shore (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Dec. 21 Coppin State (ACCNX) 1 p.m. Dec. 29 at Notre Dame* (ACCN) 12 p.m. Jan. 2 Wake Forest* (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Jan. 9 at Clemson* (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Jan. 12 Duke* (ACCN) 12 p.m. Jan. 16 at Virginia Tech* (ACCNX) 6 p.m. Jan. 19 at NC State* (The CW) 2 p.m. Jan. 23 Georgia Tech* (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Jan. 26 Louisville* (The CW) 2 p.m. Jan. 30 at Miami* (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Feb. 2 at Syracuse* (ACCN) 12 p.m. Feb. 6 Florida State* (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Feb. 9 Virginia Tech* (ACCN) 12 p.m. Feb. 16 at Pittsburgh* (ACCN) 2 p.m. Feb. 20 California* (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Feb. 23 Stanford* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Feb. 27 at SMU* (ACCNX) 8 p.m. March 2 at North Carolina* (The CW) 2 p.m. March 5-9 ACC Tournament$ TBD # Discover Puerto Rico Shootout at San Juan, Puerto Rico; ^ SEC/ACC Challenge; *ACC game; $ at Greensboro, N.C. First-year forward Breona Hurd is among a group of newcomers that has added length and athleticism to UVA's lineup. (Photo courtesy UVA)