The injury to Isaac McKneely casts a shadow on Virginia’s lineup choices ahead of a demanding four-game stretch.
On Monday, Nov. 20, in the Fort Myers Tio-Off, Virginia (4-0) takes on Wisconsin (2-2). Suncoast Credit Union Arena kickoff.
The greatest narrative of the season thus far is Virginia shooting guard Isaac McKneely’s ankle injury this past Tuesday, despite the team having a strong 4-0 start to the campaign. A few days ago, the Cavaliers defeated a strong Florida squad, and they have since cruised through three games against far weaker opposition. In actuality, Virginia easily defeated Texas Southern without McKneely, winning 62–33 in the end.
Now, it’s even more interesting to see how head coach Tony Bennett chooses his lineups and rotations as the Cavaliers prepare for Monday night’s game against the first of potentially four consecutive power league opponents. After hosting West Virginia or Southern Methodist on Wednesday and Wisconsin on Monday, Virginia will host Syracuse and No. 13 Texas A&M in Charlottesville on Tuesday.
Virginia head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton and players spoke to the media following the loss on Sunday afternoon. Virginia lost to No. 25 Oklahoma.
Charlestown, Virginia This season, Virginia women’s basketball suffered its first defeat, falling to No. 25 Oklahoma 82-67. The Sooners led the game by as much as 20 points at one point, but the visitors were able to seize control of the game by outscoring Virginia 20-9 in the second quarter.
The Sooners were able to score enough points in the final frame to earn the victory, but the Cavaliers’ late charge was insufficient as they were outscored 21–13 by Oklahoma in the third quarter to pull within five points.
The biggest disparities in the game were Oklahoma’s 43.3% three-point percentage and Virginia’s 4.3% three-point percentage.
Following the game, players and head coach of Virginia, Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, had a meeting with the media.
Coach’s Welcome Remarks
Obviously, it doesn’t feel nice to lose. Well done, Oklahoma. They had a fantastic game. They had a hard game. They performed admirably, in my opinion, on both sides of the ball. It’s just not typical for us that we clearly battled to shoot it from the three. Although we practice shooting well and are just waiting for it to click under the lights, I didn’t like how many threes we were taking, even though I thought some of the ones we did take could have gone in. I know we haven’t really started that well this year [from the three].
But there were some positive aspects. Olivia McGhee, who performed quite well, ended up starting here at the beginning of the second half, in my opinion. I felt Kaydan Lawson returned and had some solid minutes in the second half. I believed we had some successes there because Cam [Taylor], Sam [Brunelle], and London [Clarkson] really held it down in the post.
Overall though, we must and will improve.]
When they hit 13 threes… Were you happy with your three point defense or does that need to be sured up a little bit?
Definitely not happy if somebody’s shooting 43% in our gym – not happy about that. But second half was better. I thought the biggest key to the game, one of the biggest keys of the game for us was transition defense, and the first half that got away from us. They scored 23 points in transition in the first half and five threes out of that.
So we made some adjustments and we were able to lock in on that in the third quarter. They didn’t score and transition at all – they were forced into tough shots. And in the fourth quarter, they had a couple points there, so we’re definitely capable, we just got to lock in and have some urgency. A lot of those threes were wide open, so those were just blown defensive assignments. So now we gotta get better.
Once they’ve made 13 threes… Did you think you played a good three-point defense, or do you think you could have done better?
If someone is shooting 43% in our gym, I’m definitely not thrilled about it. But the second part was superior. The first half that escaped us and transition defense were, in my opinion, the two most important factors in the game. In the first half, they scored 23 points and five threes while in transition.
We were able to focus in on that in the third quarter after making a few modifications. They were compelled into difficult shots; they did not score or transition at all. In the fourth quarter, as well,
The Cayman Islands and the remainder of the season will present you with formidable opposition. How can you benefit later on from a match like this against a team like Oklahoma?
We will undoubtedly benefit from it in the future. Playing opponents like these early on is a wonderful way to determine where and what we need to improve. It also helps us get ready for the conference and the remainder of the nonconference. Thus, I’m happy that we have this.
There will be some excellent ones soon. Therefore, all we need to do is get back to work, make some adjustments, ensure that we have a better understanding of accountability and consistency, and simply carry out the game plan.
I felt that we actually accomplished that during the game, particularly in the second half. We therefore surpass what we demonstrated tonight. That is a top 25 team, though, in addition. We haven’t arrived yet. Yes, we are.
We’re not quite there yet, but we will be because we have what it takes. And I believe that a portion of that can be ascribed to the numerous lineup variations, players recovering from injuries, and my recruiting philosophy, which values versatility so players can cover a variety of roles. We had to acclimate to one another somewhat because many healthy teams had done so during the summer and preseason, and we are still in that phase. I believe once.
Though clearly disappointed with the outcome, the team rallied from a 20-point deficit to within five points in the third quarter. What does that say about this team’s moxie?
COACH: I believe we need to work on the first half and that we will, but it does demonstrate our ability. We have excellent players. We have excellent security. We have excellent bigs. We have an excellent crew. All we need to do is put everything together, communicate with one another, and recognize the source of shoots. This includes defensive assignments, rebounding, covering, and other similar tasks. Thus, the season is still early. This team is amazing. We demonstrated our capability at several points tonight, in my opinion. So after we placed.
TAYLOR: Just as the coach says, it’s about bringing everything together and sticking by one another. However, I believe the thing about our team that I’m most proud of is that we didn’t give up when we encountered diversity; instead, we continued to fight back. We were behind by twenty and rallied within five, so obviously we lost and couldn’t win, but that just goes to show that we can accomplish amazing things if we keep working hard and, in actuality, focus on overcoming diversity every single day. All we have to do is keep moving forward, making sure we have each other’s backs.
What was the boost Olivia McGhee brought and what progress have you observed since you started her in the second half?
She can score the ball and has come a long way, particularly defensively. You people constantly witness that. The largest adjustment, in my opinion, was for her to realize the intensity and pace of defense, and I believe that today she was in the stance. She was very focused on defense, and she undoubtedly helped us out offensively as well. She was, in my opinion, a definite starter for the second half because, at that time, we were behind and needed to recover, which I believed she did.
Where have you noticed your progress?
McGhee is I concur that defense is equally as important as playing with urgency and communicating. Just dropping by to have an influence…
14 of Oklahoma’s 24 turnovers today were the result of thefts. How much does it matter to simply take the ball away and force steals?
Really big. We want to play fast, so a lot of our offense comes from our defense. Therefore, we may gain easy points and possessions on the other end if we can force some turnovers or rebound and get out. I therefore believed that we occasionally did it but also believed that we occasionally took poor photos. We didn’t really take advantage of all those mistakes, but it was still a big deal to force them in at 24 turnovers. However, they out-rebounded us, so it’s a statistic that we can’t really negotiate. You see, the stat sheet sort of summarizes the game’s plot, but we still need to put together 40 minutes.
What did you think of the atmosphere today? There were over 4200 people in attendance, and during the second half of the comeback, it got noisy.
Oh, how I cherished the ambience. We need the support of our fans, the Wahoo Nation, so I hope they will keep coming out to see us. I felt that was excellent. It was excellent for basketball for ladies. I assumed that everyone in Orange was simply surrounded by an energetic vibe. It was wonderful to witness, and I know that this has advanced significantly. I, along with everyone else, am grateful for it, and it undoubtedly assisted us in overcoming the early going in the second half.
