Virginia Downs Clemson 67-60, Earns Second-Straight ACC Win

CLEMSON, S.C. — On the back of a season-high 28-point performance from Kymora Johnson, Virginia (10-6, 2-2 ACC) defeated Clemson (10-6, 3-2 ACC) 67-60 on Thursday night (Jan. 9) at Littlejohn Coliseum. The win marks Virginia’s second consecutive conference victory and its first true road win of the season.

Johnson (28 pts, 6 ast, 2 stl) notched her eighth 20-point game of the season and the 16^th of her career while Latasha Lattimore (12 pts, 11 reb, 2 stl) recorded her sixth double-double of the season. Olivia McGhee (14 pts, 6-9 FG, 3 stl) and Paris Clark (11 pts, 7 reb, 4 stl) rounded out a total of four Cavaliers who scored in double figures.

How It Happened
In a back-and-forth opening quarter, the Cavaliers fell into an early 8-5 hole but responded with a 7-0 scoring run to take a 12-8 lead. The Tigers swayed momentum back in their favor using a 6-0 run of their own to take a two-point lead into the break [15-17].

Seven quick points from Johnson fueled a 9-3 Cavalier run to open the second quarter. Virginia went on to outscore Clemson 20-10 in the period to push its lead to eight points [35-27] at the end of the first half. Johnson led the Cavaliers in the opening half with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting including 2-of-3 from long range.

The Cavaliers scored the opening two baskets of the second half to push their lead to double digits [39-27]. However, Clemson closed the frame on a 10-3 run to cut the Cavalier lead to five [48-43] heading into the game’s final period. Olivia McGhee was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor scoring six of her 14 points in the quarter while Johnson dished out four of her six assists.

In the fourth, Virginia extended its lead to as many as eight points [61-53] after McGhee drilled a 3-pointer with under three minutes to go in the game. Johnson would tack on nine points in the period to reach her season-high of 28. The sophomore guard was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line including four consecutive makes to ice the game down the stretch.

With The Win

• Virginia notches its first true road win of the season
• UVA records its second consecutive ACC victory
• The Cavaliers snap a four-game losing streak in the series with the Tigers
• UVA improves to 46-35 in the all-time series with Clemson

Game Notes

• Double-figure scorers: Johnson (28), McGhee (14), Lattimore (12), Clark (11)
• Kymora Johnson’s 28 points notched a season-high and her eighth 20-point game of the season
• Johnson made four three pointers for the third time this season
• Latasha Lattimore recorded her sixth double-double of the season (12 pts, 11 reb)
• The Cavaliers combined for 11 steals on the night led by Paris Clark (4)
• Virginia is 5-1 on the season when recording 10+ steals
• Each team turned the ball over 16 times; Virginia is 5-1 on the season when it wins or ties the turnover battle
• Virginia shot 42-percent (24-57) from the floor compared to Clemson’s 40-percent (23-58)
• The Cavaliers shot 86-percent (12-14) from the free-throw line, their best mark of the season
• UVA has shot 80 percent or better from the line in back-to-back games
• Virginia outrebounded Clemson 37-31 and improves to 10-2 when outrebounding its opponents

Up Next:
The Cavaliers return to action on Sunday (Jan. 12) when they host No. 14 Duke. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for noon on ACC Network (ACCN).