Virginia, as expected, had no trouble with Howard, breaking the game open with a 31-point first quarter on the way to a 76-50 win on Wednesday at JPJ.
Junior forward Sa’Myah Smith, in her home debut, led the ‘Hoos (8-3, NET: 31) with 18 points (8-of-12 FG) and seven rebounds.
Preseason All-ACC guard Kymora Johnson had another rough shooting night (3-of-15 FG), but she stuffed the stat sheet – eight points, seven assists, six rebounds.
Romi Levy also had a productive floor game – nine points (4-of-8 FG, 1-of-2 3FG) and seven assists.
Virginia shot 52.3 percent from the floor and dominated the glass (46-28) and the paint (54-20).
Howard (7-5, NET: 107) got 18 points from Zoe Stewart.
“Really proud of our players. I thought that was a great team win,” UVA coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said. “First half, but especially in the first quarter, I thought we were really dominant. I loved how aggressive we were offensively. We were executing even in transition; we were getting whatever we wanted. Second half I thought we got a little laid back and we had to kind of ramp ourselves up again. But what we showed was really impressive today.
Virginia is now on its exam break, returning on Saturday, Dec. 20, with Winthrop (7-4, NET: 275) at noon.
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Chris Graham
