Virginia Suffers 76-70 Defeat to California

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Led by Kymora Johnson’s 11th 20-point performance of the season, Virginia rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to regain the lead in the fourth quarter. However, the Cavaliers (13-14, 5-10 ACC) fell to California (22-6, 10-5 ACC) by a score of 76-70 on Thursday night (Feb. 20) at John Paul Jones Arena.

Johnson poured in 24 points, marking consecutive 20-point outings while collecting seven rebounds, and five assists. Paris Clark made her return to action, scoring 12 points to go with five assists and four rebounds. Edessa Noyan scored 11 points on an efficient shooting night, going 4-for-5 from the floor including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

How It Happened
Virginia trailed by as many as six early, but with hot shooting from 3-point range, took a 22-20 advantage into the second quarter. Johnson scored 10 of her 24 points in the frame, including a pair of back-to-back three pointers. As a team, Virginia went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc in the opening period.

UVA outscored Cal 13-10 in the second to take a five-point lead [35-30] into the halftime break. Johnson led Virginia at the half, scoring 12 points while pulling down four rebounds. Hurd chipped in seven points in the half while Lattimore logged four blocks.

Cal netted the first 17 points of the second half to take a 12-point lead [35-47], drilling 4-of-6 3-pointers over that stretch. The Cavaliers responded quickly with a 12-0 run of their own to tie the game [51-51] but Virginia would go into the final quarter trailing 56-55.

In the fourth the Cavaliers took an early lead [59-58] but were ultimately outscored 20-15 in the final frame. Johnson scored eight of Virginia’s points in the quarter, pulling the Cavaliers within as few as three points [68-71] with less than a minute to go.

Game Notes
• Double-figure scorers: Johnson (24), Clark (12), Noyan (11)
• Kymora Johnson logged her 11th 20-point game of the season and the 19th of her career
• Latasha Lattimore tied a career high with five blocks on the night
• Lattimore’s 55 blocks on the year ranks as the eighth-highest single-season total in program history
• Paris Clark logged five assists for the sixth time on the season
• Edessa Noyan’s three made 3-pointers sets a career high
• Virginia’s 10 turnovers mark a season-low
• The Cavaliers shot 92-percent (12-13) from the free-throw line, their highest mark of the season with at least 10 attempts
• UVA was outrebounded by a margin of 42-31 and falls to 1-10 on the season when being outrebounded
• The Cavaliers surrendered 12 points to second-chance opportunities
• UVA falls to 9-5 when leading at halftime

Up Next:
The Cavaliers return to action on Sunday (Feb. 23) when they host Stanford. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network (ACCN).