Virginia welcomed back Taylor Valladay, Camryn Taylor and Eleah Parker from COVID protocols and Valladay and Parker immediately made their presence known as Valladay ignited a 15 – 2 first-quarter run, and Parker effectively took Cunane out of the game.
NC State       66
Virginia        43
Positive
The 1st Quarter. This was easily Virginia’s best play of the season. Elissa Cunane got the Wolf Pack off to a quick start, scoring her team’s first 6 points in just 90 seconds. But then Parker clamped down on Cunane, and Valladay erupted for 7 first-quarter points. NC State is one of the highest scoring teams in the country and the highest scoring in the ACC, and Virginia held them without a score for seven minutes (!) and opened up a 15 – 6 lead. Virginia gave back 5 points with about a minute left, but it was still a great opening frame.
Positive
Taylor Valladay’s energy. It had been well over a month since Valladay had last played a game and she came out fired up, brimming with fire and passion and exuberance. She played with swagger en route to shooting 3 – 4 and scoring 7 first-quarter points. She was the first-quarter catalyst, and she’s proving to be the shrewdest of Tina Thompson’s transfer portal acquisitions.
Negative
Valladay picked up some kind of knock early in the 2nd quarter. She really tried to play, remaining on the court for 2 more minutes, all the while hobbling. It was viscerally painful to watch. She also came out to start the second half, but that was short-lived. Any hope of Virginia winning this contest evaporated with her injury.
Positive
Eleah Parker owns Elissa Cunane. Cunane blitzed Virginia out of the gate and scored 6 points in a minute and a half. Parker came in at point and just shut her down. Cunane only scored 4 points over the next 28+ minutes (all the starters sat out the majority of the fourth quarter. Parker had nine rebounds and five blocks, three of which were on Cunane. It’s the second time she’s shut down Cunane. Like Francisco Caffaro a night earlier, Parker set a personal best (at Virginia anyway) in minutes played. Also like Caffaro, Parker did NOT tire down the stretch.
Negative
Virginia is, in essence, a single A team playing a AAA schedule. NC State just has way more horses. Cunane had a very pedestrian 10 points. Raina Perez played just 15 minutes and had more fouls than points. Diamond Johnson went 2 – 9. And yet 12 different players scored for the Wolf Pack, and they still outscored Virginia by 20+ points. If you compare Aziaha James’ game to that of Amandine Toi’s, you’d have a pretty similar comparison, talent-wise. Except that Toi is Virginia’s best player while James is the 5th player off the bench for Wes Moore. The gulf in talent is just palpable.
Negative
Virginia turns the ball over too much. On this night, the Cavs had 21 turnovers which NC State converted into 26 points. Overall, I have been quite impressed by how hard this team plays, what with a 3 – 10 record and sitting last in the ACC. But off a turnover? There is no hustle back. On one Perez layup there wasn’t a single Cavalier in the frame, and Perez ain’t particularly quick.
Positive
For a poor free-throw shooting team, Virginia had a good night going 7 – 9 as five different players went to the charity stripe. Baby steps. Baby steps.