CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Virginia women’s basketball team (13-4, 5-1 ACC) suffered a 79-60 defeat to Syracuse (14-3, 4-2 ACC) on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 11) in front of a crowd of 5,797 at John Paul Jones Arena. The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak and marks the first defeat in conference play for the Cavaliers.
Syracuse’s Laila Phelia led all players with 38 points (13-19 FG, 10-11 FT), while Sophie Burrows contributed 21 points (7-10 FG, 7-8 3FG) as the Orange converted 21 points off 11 second-half turnovers to overcome a halftime deficit.
Kymora Johnson (19 pts, 7-10 FG, 6 reb, 5 ast) led the Cavaliers on the stat sheet while Caitlin Weimar scored 15 pts on 7-for-9 shooting with eight rebounds. Virginia won the battle on the boards 37-29 but was outscored 51-26 in the second half.
How It Happened
Virginia fell into an early five-point hole but responded with 11 straight points of their own to take the lead [11-5]. Weimar led the Cavaliers in the opening period with seven points while going a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor. Virginia forced Syracuse into seven turnovers in the opening frame and took a 17-12 lead into the second.
Phelia led all players with scoring 13 of Syracuse’s 16 points in the second quarter. The Orange pulled within as few as three points in the frame, but the Cavaliers outscored Syracuse 17-16 to take a 34-28 lead into halftime. Phelia’s18 first-half points led all players while Weimar led the Cavaliers with nine points and four rebounds.
Syracuse started the second half with a 9-2 run to take their first lead [36-37] since the seven-minute mark in the first quarter. Once again, the Cavaliers responded with an 8-0 run of their own to regain the advantage [44-37]. The Orange went on to outscore the Cavaliers 23-15 in the quarter as UVA trailed 51-49 going into the fourth.
The Orange shot 69 percent (11-16) from the floor in the fourth as Burrows (12 pts) and Phelia (10 pts) combined for 22 of Syracuse’s 28 fourth-quarter points to close out the game. Virginia was held to just 31 percent from the field (5-16) and was outrebounded 11-5 in the final 10 minutes.
From Head Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton:
“First of all, I want to thank the kids that painted our shoes today. Today was Shoes4Hope, it is something we do for kids who are battling cancer; their fight is definitely bigger than basketball. I want to say thank you, and sorry we didn't come through for them. As far as the game, I thought we had the game under control for three quarters, and it was a very embarrassing fourth quarter, and we'll get better.”
Game Notes
- The loss snaps a seven-game win streak over all and 5-0 streak in ACC play
- The Cavaliers drop to 9-2 at John Paul Jones Arena in 2025-26
- Virginia is 6-12 in the all-time series with Syracuse
- The home attendance of 5,797 marks the largest since 2024 (11, 975, vs VT 3/3/24)
- The game’s attendance figure marks the fourth largest of the Coach Mox era
- Virginia won the rebound battle 37-29
- UVA falls to 13-2 when outrebounding its opponents
- Virginia blocked eight shots led by Tabitha Amanze (4 blocks)
- Amanze recorded her second game with at least four blocks this season
- Amanze has recorded multiple blocks in five consecutive games
- Syracuse cashed in 29 points off 21 Virginia turnovers
- Double figure scorers: Johnson (19), Weimar (15)
- Weimar’s 15 points mark a season high
- Weimar made her third start of the season and scored in double-figures for the fourth time
- Virginia scored 32 points in the paint marking its 16th game with at least 30 points in the paint
- Johnson and Amanze lead UVA with five assists apiece
- Amanze’s five assists mark a career-high
- With seven made field goals on the day, Johnson (499) is just one away from her 500th career field goal
Up Next:
Virginia returns to action when the team travels to Duke on Thursday (Jan. 15). Tipoff from Cameron Indoor Stadium is set for 8 p.m. on ACC Network (ACCN).