Virginia Bounces Back With Dominant 82-56 Win Over Fordham

In the final non-conference game of the season, the Cavaliers were determined to bounce back in a big way after Saturday's disappointing loss to Wofford. 

Mission accomplished. 

Virginia (8-3) broke out of its perimeter shooting slump, knocking down 12 threes and cruising to an 82-56 win over Fordham (5-7) on Thursday night at John Paul Jones Arena. 

In Saturday's upset loss to Northeastern, the Cavaliers shot 4/23 from beyond the arc, which is unfortunately not that far off from UVA's season-long average of 25.1%, which ranks 327th in the country. Thursday was a completely different story, as Virginia made 10 threes in the first half alone 

The Cavaliers wasted little time seizing control of the game, racing out to an 18-0 lead behind a pair of threes from Kymora Johnson. Fordham's first points of the game didn't come until six and a half minutes into the quarter. UVA hit four threes in the opening period and led 27-7 at the end of the first quarter. 

Fordham got going offensively in the second quarter, making four threes. But unfortunately for the Rams, the Cavaliers were even better from beyond the arc, catching fire and converting on six of their nine three-point attempts. UVA won the quarter 23-18 and extended its lead to 50-25 at the half. 

Fordham, which had been content to sit in a zone and let UVA shoot threes to open the game, adjusted its defense to defend the three-point line after halftime. The Cavaliers attempted only one three in the third quarter and made only two threes the rest of the game, finishing 12/22 (54.5%) from beyond the arc for the night. 

Virginia built a lead as large as 38 at 64-26 midway through the third quarter, but then went the next seven and a half minutes without scoring, which was the result of a combination of UVA taking its foot off the gas and Fordham implementing a full-court press, which forced a few Cavalier turnovers. The game was never really in doubt, though, as the Rams couldn't get any closer than 22 points and Virginia went on to win 82-56. 

"I'm really proud of our team," Coach Mox said after the game. "I thought we responded in every way we needed to. There was so many great things about this game... but what I am most proud about was our synergy and camaraderie and our togetherness and just pushing through adversity."

In the game's final seconds, Kymora Johnson put the finishing touches on her fantastic performance by knocking down her sixth three of the game. The freshman point guard finished with a career-high 26 points on an efficient 10/13 shooting and 6/7 from three-point range. That was a great thing to see from Johnson, who came into the night shooting 19.2% from three so far this season, despite being an accomplished three-point shooter at the high school level. Johnson also dished out seven assists, collected five rebounds, and recorded two steals in a dazzling all-around performance. 

"I'm really proud of Mo. You know, it's a lot on your shoulders when you're a first-year point guard, right?" Coach Mox said of Johnson. "And I think she's been handling it very well. She just got back to a place where she's like, 'I want to step up' and she felt this team needed her to step up and she did. I thought she was being a great leader today." 

Paris Clark joined Johnson in double figures with 15 points, four assists, and two steals, and Camryn Taylor had a near double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds. 

The one blemish on the night for Virginia was turnovers, as the Cavaliers turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 15 points for the Rams. UVA also scored 21 points off of 20 Fordham turnovers. 

Click here to read Val's Plus/Minus breakdown of the game.

Up next, Virginia (8-3) opens ACC play against No. 3 NC State on New Year's Eve at 6pm at John Paul Jones Arena. 

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