The UVA Women’s Basketball team has now lost three straight, with a fourth-quarter rally coming up short in a 66-57 loss to Auburn on Thursday night in JPJ.
Three straight losses, and we’re not talking about losses to major powers – Auburn (6-3) was picked 12th in the SEC preseason poll; Washington State (4-5) has an eight-point win over Norfolk State and an 11-point loss to Drake; Wyoming (4-4) has a nine-point loss to Norfolk State.
The other loss was a 95-51 beatdown at #11 Oklahoma, which exposed, basically, everything about this UVA program in Year 3 under coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton.
Coach Mox has had some big wins on the recruiting trail – McDonald’s All-American Kymora Johnson, borderline five-star Olivia McGhee – and some big wins on the court – the win over Virginia Tech in the home finale this past spring comes to mind there.
But since her first team, in 2022-2023, started 11-0, against a light nonconference schedule, and was briefly ranked nationally, Virginia has gone just 26-35, and 11-25 in ACC play.
After last night’s loss, Agugua-Hamilton was reduced to prostrating herself before the fan, alum and donor base for where things stand with her program.
“First of all, just want to apologize to our fans,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “These last three games, in particular, are not a reflection of who we are going to be this season, and to perform like that at home, it hurts. It hurts a lot, and it’s disappointing. I think everybody feels that way. And I know, you know, our fans are coming out and they’re supporting us, and I hope they continue to do that, because we’re going to get better.”
In last night’s loss, Auburn used a 17-5 run to lead by as many as 15 in the second quarter, and maintained a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter.
Virginia got back into it with a 12-3 run that cut the Tigers’ lead to 53-50, but that was as close as it would get.
Johnson had 22 points and 13 rebounds for UVA.
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Chris Graham
