Cavaliers Dominate in ACC Opener at Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.  —  Six different Cavaliers scored in double figures powering Virginia to a dominant win in its ACC opener on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 7). The Cavaliers (7-3, 1-0 ACC) defeated Boston College (4-8, 0-1 ACC) 81-55 at Conte Forum to notch the 1,000^th victory in program history.

Kymora Johnson (13 pts, 4 reb, 9 ast) and Paris Clark (13 pts 6 reb, 5 ast) led the Cavaliers on the stat sheet while Sa’Myah Smith (12), Gabby White (12), Tabitha Amanze (11) and Romi Levy (11) rounded out Virginia’s season-high six players who scored in double figures.

In addition to her 11 points, Amanze pulled down 10 rebounds to notch her third double-double of the season. The Cavaliers shot 54 percent from the floor (33-for-61) while holding their opponents to 30 percent (19-for-64). UVA won the rebound battle 43-30 while recording eight steals and nine blocks on the defensive end of the floor.

How It Happened
Sa’Myah Smith made her Cavalier debut checking in three minutes into opening period and helped spark a 10-0 Cavalier run with eight points on 3-for-5 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers. The Cavaliers shot 68 percent in the opening quarter to open up a 26-13 lead.

Early in the second quarter, Adeang Ring keyed an 8-0 run to stretch Virginia’s lead to 19 points [34-15]. Ring’s seven points led the Cavaliers in the second period. The Cavaliers shot 61 percent (17-for-28) in the first half and limited BC to just 16 percent (5-for-32) to take a 40-21 advantage into the break.

Gabby White scored eight of her 12 points in the third quarter including back-to-back three-point plays to help stretch the Cavalier lead to 30 points [57-27], its largest of the game. Johnson poured in nine of her 13 points in the second half as she connected three times from long range.

From Head Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton:
“I love the resilience we showed, the poise we showed. We bounced back from that Vandy game, which was a game where we weren’t very connected. We got better in practice these last couple days, and we were able to apply some of that here, just staying on the same page, understanding we have to execute the game plan, but we have to be us…I just think there was a lot of growth in this game. We wanted to make sure we started ACC, right. I think this is a pretty dominant win to start.”

With the Win:

• Virginia records its 1,000^th victory in program history improving its all-time record to 1,000-567
• Virginia improves to 22-7 in the all-time series with Boston College
• UVA is 8-4 against BC in Chestnut Hill
• Virginia improves to 1-0 in ACC play 

Game Notes

• Double figure scorers: Johnson (13), Clark (13), Smith (12), White (12), Levy (11), Amanze (11)
• Six Cavaliers scored in double figures for the first time since 2023 (at La Salle, 12/3/23)
• Sa’Myah Smith made her Cavalier debut scoring 12 points and pulling down four rebounds
• Caitlin Weimar made her first start as a Cavalier
• Smith’s pair of three-pointers marked a career-high
• Amanze (11pts, 10 reb) recorded her third double-double of the season
• Virginia recorded a season-high 42 points off the bench
• UVA outrebounded BC 43-30 and improves to 7-1 when outrebounding opponents
• Virginia held its opponent to under 60-points for the seventh time this season and improves to 7-0 in those games
• Virginia scored 13 points off 10 BC turnovers

Up Next:
Virginia returns home to host Howard on Wednesday (Dec. 10). Tipoff from John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).