Year 2 of Virginia women's basketball under Amaka Agugua-Hamilton officially tips off on Wednesday night as the Cavaliers host Maryland Eastern Shore at 7pm at John Paul Jones Arena. With UVA ready to embark on what should be a very exciting and promising season, here's 10 things you should know about the 2023-2024 Virginia women's basketball team.
Coach Mox is hoping to build on a solid first season with a strong year 2.
Year 1 under Coach Mox saw the Cavaliers go undefeated in non-conference play, increase their win total from the previous season by 10, and earn a bid to the NIT. Virginia did not accept that bid because of significant injuries and general roster depletion, issues that plagued the Cavaliers heavily through the back end of the season. But even so, it was a solid foundational first year and gives Virginia plenty to build on this season, especially since UVA has a roster overflowing with experience and talent.
Roster overview: solid mix of returners and newcomers.
Here's a quick summary of UVA's roster changes this season:
Departures: McKenna Dale, Taylor Valladay, Carole Miller
Returners: Camryn Taylor, Sam Brunelle, Mir McLean, London Clarkson, Kaydan Lawson, Alexia Smith, Yonta Vaughn, Cady Pauley
Transfer additions: Paris Clark (Arizona), Jillian Brown (Northwestern), Taylor Lauterbach (Kansas State)
Freshmen additions: Kymora Johnson, Olivia McGhee, Edessa Noyan
Virginia's roster is a good mix of old and new faces, with the Cavaliers returning eight players from last year and adding six newcomers, including three transfers and three freshmen. Coach Mox has championed the culture of her program since day one and that culture has certainly taken root with this team. Every player we spoke to on media day alluded to the chemistry and camaraderie that has already formed in this team both on and off the court, even with all the newcomers. And in our first look at the team against another opponent, Virginia scored 102 points in a preseason exhibition game against Pitt-Johnstown. So far, so good.
Three impact freshmen.
Virginia's two true freshmen last season - Yonta Vaughn and Cady Pauley - played in nearly every game, with Vaughn averaging over 18 minutes per game and Pauley over 10. Coach Mox clearly has no problem playing freshmen and this year, she's got three really good ones. Kymora Johnson and Olivia McGhee are both top 50 overall recruits in their class and both natives of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Johnson is a sharpshooting and playmaking point guard who is a superstar in the making and McGhee is super athletic and a highly capable slasher at 6'2". Swedish forward Edessa Noyan rounds out the class and brings with her a great deal of international experience. Together, Johnson, McGhee, and Noyan gave Virginia the nation's No. 13 recruiting class in 2023. Look for all three to give the Cavaliers a serious lift this season, but especially Johnson, who is likely a starter from day one.
Homegrown talent.
Coach Mox, a Virginia native herself, has placed a high value on in-state recruiting. Just a couple of weeks after she was officially introduced as UVA's head coach, she secured a commitment from Ruckersville, Virginia native Sam Brunelle out of the transfer portal from Notre Dame. With Brunelle's assistance on the recruiting trail, Coach Mox proceeded to land two of the state's most talented basketball players in Olivia McGhee, who played at Louisa County, and Kymora Johnson, who played at St. Anne's-Belfield in Charlottesville. Brunelle, McGhee, and Johnson will each be big-time factors for the Hoos this season and they'll be a big reason why Virginia women's basketball will draw big crowds at JPJ this season.
Lots of excitement and energy surrounding the program.
Speaking of getting butts in seats, Virginia women's basketball announced on social media this week that a new record has been set for most season tickets sold in program history. The UVA and Charlottesville communities are seeing what Coach Mox is building and they are ready for Virginia women's basketball to be a force again. Interest and attention in women's college basketball is peaking nationwide. Coach Mox has this program poised to join that party and the fans are going to be there to witness and support it.
This team is going to run, run, run, all the time.
Those fans who pack JPJ are going to be treated to some fast-pace, up-tempo basketball featuring end-to-end action from start to finish. With due respect to Tony Bennett, who has successfully utilized a slow style of basketball to build a powerhouse on the men's side, Coach Mox is taking the opposite approach to build her program. The Cavaliers got out on the break whenever they could last year, but they were severely limited by their lack of roster depth and by injury troubles. This season, Virginia has a bigger roster with several playmaking guards as well as wings and forwards who can handle the ball well in transition. 'Embrace the Pace' is going to take on a whole different meaning when Coach Mox's squad is playing at JPJ.
Depth is the key.
Virginia faced a great deal of adversity at the end of last season, with various injuries and general personnel depletion resulting in the Cavaliers playing a game with just six active players. That won't be a problem for UVA this time with 14 players on the roster, each of whom are capable of making meaningful contributions. It won't be surprising to see platoon-style substitutions from Coach Mox and frequent subbing at that, keeping everybody's legs fresh in order to effectively execute that up-tempo brand of basketball.
Injury Report
Virginia had four players inactive for the preseason exhibition game last Thursday - Mir McLean, Sam Brunelle, Kaydan Lawson, and Paris Clark - and at least two of those players won't be playing in the season opener. McLean will likely be out another couple of months as she recovers from a severe knee injury suffered last season. Clark went down with an ankle sprain recently and will be out a couple of weeks. Sam Brunelle is still recovering from offseason surgery and could return to the court very soon, but we're not sure if that'll happen by Wednesday night's season opener. That's also the case for Kaydan Lawson, who is dealing with a knee injury. On the more positive side, the scary injury suffered by Olivia McGhee in the Blue-White Scrimmage didn't end up being that serious, as McGhee played in the exhibition game last week and looked as healthy and athletic as ever.
What's the starting five?
If and when Virginia's roster is completely healthy (which is a ways away), my best guess for the starting lineup would be Kymora Johnson, Kaydan Lawson, Sam Brunelle, Mir McLean, and Camryn Taylor. But with McLean out and Brunelle and Lawson questionable, the opening night starting lineup could be the same one UVA trotted out last Thursday: Kymora Johnson, Jillian Brown, Alexia Smith, London Clarkson, and Camryn Taylor. The starting five isn't everything considering the frequency with which Coach Mox will be making substitutions and it's not nearly as important as the closing unit, which could vary depending on matchups and who has the hot hand.
Tough schedule.
Virginia went unbeaten in non-conference play last season for just the third time in program history and first time in more than 30 years. Now, I'm not saying that that isn't going to happen again, but UVA has a game against the reigning national champions LSU and one against another NCAA Tournament team from last season in Oklahoma. Both of those games will be significantly more challenging than any game Virginia played in non-conference action last year. Overall, UVA has 10 opponents who made the NCAA Tournament a season ago on its schedule, including each of the four ACC teams the Cavaliers are scheduled to play twice in the regular season: Duke, North Carolina, NC State, and Virginia Tech. If the Hoos are going to break through and make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, they'll have to earn it.
Virginia opens the 2023-2024 women's basketball season on Wednesday at 7pm against Maryland Eastern Shore at John Paul Jones Arena.
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