Virginia Opens Ally ACC Tournament Against Wake Forest

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 11 seed Virginia (15-14, 7-11 ACC) makes its 47th all-time ACC Tournament appearance when the Cavaliers take on 14th-seeded Wake Forest (6-24, 2-16 ACC) in the first round at Greensboro Coliseum on Wednesday (March 6). Opening tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. on ACC Network.

FOR OPENERS

• The Cavaliers are coming off an 80-75 win over instate rival and then-No. 5 Virginia Tech in their regular-season finale.
• UVA has won five of its last seven games, two of which were over ranked opponents.
• Wednesday’s tournament matchup against the Demon Deacons is a rematch of UVA’s last two ACC Tournament openers, both of which the Cavaliers were on the losing end of.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

• Jenn Hildreth (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst) will have the call on ACC Network.
• The game will also be broadcast on 98.9-FM/1070-AM WINA, VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports mobile app.
• Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports mobile app.

A WIN FOR THE CAVALIERS WOULD…

• Give Virginia its fourth win over a ranked opponent this season, a first since 2008-09.
• Be UVA’s sixth victory in its last eight games.
• Snap a two-game losing skid in the ACC Tournament and would mark the program’s first victory in the tournament since 2019.
• Guarantee the Hoos an above-.500 record upon the conclusion of this year’s ACC Tournament.

SERIES HISTORY

• Virginia leads the all-time series, which began in 1976, 71-10.
• UVA is 7-3 all-time against the Demon Deacons in the ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers won in: 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000 and 2017. Wake defeated UVA in 2011, 2022 and 2023.
• The Hoos won the first six meetings in the tournament between the two teams.
• Of Wake’s 10 victories since the series began 49 years ago, five of them have come in the last seven meetings dating back to 2018-19.
• The Cavaliers won 49 straight meetings from 1979 through 2002.

VIRGINIA IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT

• UVA is 37-42 (.468) all-time in the ACC Tournament, including 6-4 in the first round.
• Among current ACC schools, UVA has only faced North Carolina (14) in the ACC Tournament more times than Wake Forest (10). The Cavaliers have also gone head-to-head with Georgia Tech 10 times.
• UVA’s last win in the tournament was when the 12th-seeded Cavaliers defeated No. 13 seed Boston College, 77-61, in the first round of the 2019 tournament in Greensboro, N.C.
• The last time UVA had a player on the ACC’s All-Tournament Team was Monica Wright in 2010.
• Virginia has won three ACC Tournaments (1990, 1992 & 1993).
• UVA is 5-2 in ACC Tournament games that required overtime, including when UVA knocked off Wake Forest, 68-67, in the quarterfinals 1989 tournament in Fayetteville, N.C.

LAST MEETING BETWEEN THE HOOS & WAKE FOREST

• Virginia freshmen Kymora Johnson (23 pts, 8-13 FG, 6 reb, 7 ast) and Olivia McGhee (22 pts, 9-15 FG, 5 reb) combined for 45 points to lead the Cavaliers in their 87-79 victory at Wake Forest on Feb. 11.
• McGhee’s 22 points are her career high and eight points more than her previous best (14), which she achieved three times earlier this season.
• Camryn Taylor (14 pts, 5-7 FG) and Sam Brunelle (13 pts, 5-9 FG, 6 reb) also scored in double figures.
• Virginia shot 53.4 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range, its second-best performances in both categories among ACC matchups this season. The Cavaliers knocked down 13 3-pointers, only two shy of tying the program record, which UVA achieved against Tulane earlier this season.
• Virginia’s largest lead was 18 points with under 2:00 to play in the third and the Demon Deacons nearly mounted a comeback after trimming their defecit to as little as six points with 10 seconds remaining in the contest.

LAST TIME OUT

• The Cavaliers earned their fourth win over a ranked opponent this season after knocking off then-No. 5 Virginia Tech, 80-75, in front of a record crowd (11,975) at John Paul Jones Arena on March 2.
• The attendance figure is the largest ever recorded for a women’s college basketball game in the commonwealth of Virginia.
• The game featured 11 lead changes, 10 tied scores and neither team led by more than six points.
• Kymora Johnson (21 pts, 8-17 FG, 8 ast), Camryn Taylor (17 pts, 7 reb, 7-8 FT) and Paris Clark (16 pts, 6 reb) led the effort for the Hoos.
• Virginia Tech’s Georgia Amoore (39 pts, 13-26 FG, 8-15 3FG) set a JPJ Arena women’s scoring record.
• Amoore’s 39 points are also the most by an individual in an ACC matchup this season.

JOHNSON ON THE VERGE OF SETTING UVA’S FRESHMAN ASSISTS RECORD

• With 157 total assists in 29 regular-season appearances, Kymora Johnson needs only three more assists to shatter Sharneé Zolls’ freshman assists record of 159.
• Zoll, who currently serves as an assistant coach at Penn State, set the existing record in 2005.

ON THE HORIZON                                             

• The winner of Virginia-Wake Forest will take on No. 6 seed Florida State (21-9, 12-6 ACC) in the second round of the 2024 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday (March 7).
• Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. on ACC Network.