The Virginia women’s basketball team will host the 36th Cavalier Classic this weekend at John Paul Jones Arena, with 2 p.m. contests against Minnesota (Saturday) and East Carolina (Sunday) on the docket.
In addition, Liberty will take on the Pirates on Saturday and the Golden Gophers on Sunday, with both of those games tipping off at 5 p.m.
UVA is off to its best start in 25 years (6-0) under first-year coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, and will be fighting to stay perfect against what “Coach Mox” calls a pair of talented teams that each bring their own unique challenges.
“Yeah, this weekend, we’ve got two great teams coming in here. I think it’s gonna be good,” the coach said. “I mean, both of them are different. Minnesota plays very fast in transition offensively, East Carolina plays a lot of zone. Just two very different teams, but two really good teams.”
The Gophers (3-1), champions of the 2003 Cavalier Classic, have won at home against Western Illinois, Lehigh and Presbyterian, but dropped their only game on the road, 71-65, at North Dakota State last week. They’re averaging more than 80 points a game, and prefer to push the pace, like Coach Mox pointed out.
Freshman sharpshooter Mara Braun is Minnesota’s leading scorer, with an average of 21.3 points per game, while four other Gophers average double figures as well — sophomore forward Alanna Micheaux (13.0 ppg), freshman forward Mallory Heyer (12.3), freshman guard Amaya Battle (11.8) and redshirt-freshman guard Katie Borowicz (10.5).
Virginia junior guard Alexia Smith, who made her first start in a Cavalier uniform in Wednesday’s win over Campbell, played her first two collegiate seasons at Minnesota, where she started 13 times. Smith is one of nine Cavaliers to register double figures in scoring in at least one game this season.
Playing against the Pirates 24 hours later will be an adjustment in and of itself, but Agugua-Hamilton said that her team will be ready come Sunday afternoon.
“For us, we haven’t had a back-to-back game yet, but we’ve had short turnarounds where we’ve had one-day preps and things like that,” she said. “So we’ve kind of understood the mental-preparation piece of that, and it’s going to have to be even more with a one-day, with a back-to-back game, so I try to keep them as mentally and physically fresh as I can. Obviously, we’re still preparing for the game, so nothing’s really going to change with that.”
The Pirates (4-1) have won three in a row after their only loss of the season, a 57-46 decision at Wake Forest on Nov. 10 (Virginia knocked off the Demon Deacons in the ACC opener, 72-52). ECU has posted its wins over South Carolina State, UNC Wilmington, High Point (OT) and Charleston Southern.
The Pirates (64.4 ppg) aren’t scoring at quite the same rate as Virginia (77.0) or Minnesota, but they are holding their opponents to an average of 45.2 points per contest. They’re led by senior guard Danae McNeil, who puts up a team-high 16.0 points a night, along with junior guard Alexsia Rose (9.2 ppg) and freshman forward Amiya Joyner (8.7 ppg, team-best 8.3 rpg).
All four games of the Cavalier Classic will be livestreamed on ACC Network Extra and the ESPN app, with Sunday’s UVA-ECU game also airing live on the ACC Network. Before switching in 2014 to a non-tournament format, Virginia claimed 24 of 29 Cavalier Classic team titles, dating back to 1976.
Virginia is a perfect 5-0 on the season when achieving three feats — outrebounding its opponent, having fewer turnovers than its opponent and holding a double-digit advantage on the scoreboard.
Should the Hoos remain perfect after Sunday’s matchup, they would match their best start to a season in 30 years (8-0 in 1992-93), and would also equal the program’s longest winning streak since the 2017-18 campaign.
2022 Cavalier Classic Schedule
Saturday, Nov. 26
2 p.m. — Virginia vs. Minnesota
5 p.m. — East Carolina vs. Liberty
Sunday, Nov. 27
2 p.m. — Virginia vs. East Carolina
5 p.m. — Minnesota vs. Liberty
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