UVA Women's Basketball Falls to No. 18 Georgia Tech 75-62 (2025)

Virginia women’s basketball couldn’t come back against No. 18 Georgia Tech, falling 75-62 on Thursday night at John Paul Jones Arena. The Hoos did everything they could to overcome a 20-point first half deficit, but ultimately they couldn’t bring it all the way back. Let’s look at some quick takeaways from another close loss to a ranked team.

Hoos can’t overcome slow start

After starting the game tied up at 6-6, Virginia went scoreless for the remainder of the quarter, giving up a 15-0 run to end the frame. With six turnovers, 23% shooting, and 0/5 from three, the Hoos could not make anything happen in the first quarter. Despite a nice finish to the second quarter in other aspects, UVA shot 1/11 from three in the first half. Unfortunately, these stats are not what Coach Mox’s squad needed in their upset bid on Thursday night. Mo Johnson was held scoreless until 4:31 in the second quarter and the Hoos looked like they were in for a very long night in JPJ.

No one can question UVA’s resilience

Despite this disastrous start, UVA was able to cut the lead to just two with 3:26 left in the game. Similar to the Duke and NC State losses, the Hoos played well above their record for large stretches of the second half, but could not close the deal. Georgia Tech closed the game on an 11-0 run as UVA went cold to close the game. It is a testament to this team’s grit that they were able to turn this game into a competitive one at the end, but unfortunately they left themselves too large of a hole to overcome.

No one embodies this toughness more than Mo Johnson, who despite suffering a neck injury in practice the day before the game, played through that injury and finished the game with 22 points and five assists despite her scoreless first 15 minutes. Johnson hit some huge shots to make the game competitive and never stopped fighting until the final whistle. Paris Clark, who suffered an injury in the third quarter, tried to stay on the court, but was too hampered and had to sit down the stretch.

Too many turnovers and too few rebounds

This has been a takeaway nearly every loss recently and Thursday was no different. UVA cut the deficit to five in the third quarter, but gave up eight offensive rebounds in the third quarter alone, giving Georgia Tech far too many second-chance opportunities. Georgia Tech missed nine shots in the third quarter and UVA only secured one defensive rebound. That is frankly a shocking stat. Those eight second chance points off those rebounds ended up being the difference between winning and losing for the Cavaliers.

UVA committed nine turnovers in the first half and only two in the second half. Similar to the rebounding issue, UVA goes through long stretches where turnovers and rebounding are not a problem, but then in key moments, the problem arises again. This time, turnovers led to their long scoreless streak and rebounds prevented their comeback. It is vital that UVA find some consistency in these statistics and avoid the disastrous quarters that have cost them three opportunities at quality wins recently.

Breona Hurd provides a critical third option

Mo Johnson and Latasha Lattimore have established themselves as UVA’s two best offensive options. However, the Hoos have needed a third option to step up and Breona Hurd did just that against Georgia Tech. Despite coming off the bench, Hurd finished with 16 points and six rebounds and was critical in orchestrating Virginia’s comeback. Scoring seven of her points in the third quarter and 13 in the second half, Hurd was able to score at all levels, hitting two threes, making four free throws, and dominating in the paint. If UVA is going to make a run to end the season, Breona Hurd will be a critical component and seems to be rounding into form at the right time.

UVA misses out on another Q1 opportunity

As I discussed in my

NCAA tournament outlook

article, UVA needs a quality win to add to their resume. This GT game was one of only two remaining opportunities for a Quad 1 win, the most important metric for “quality wins” in the eyes of the selection committee. While these wins are not mandatory, it would go a long way to make up for UVA’s four Q3 and Q4 losses. The Hoos host Louisville on Sunday in a Quad 2 matchup before two Quad 3 road games against Miami and Syracuse. In order to make their way onto the bubble, it is critical that UVA goes 3-0 in this stretch.

Virginia (11-9, 3-5 ACC) will look to start this winning streak against Louisville on Sunday at 2pm in John Paul Jones Arena. The game will be televised on The CW.

UVA Women's Basketball Falls to No. 18 Georgia Tech 75-62 (2025)
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