CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Cavaliers opened 2026 with their fifth consecutive victory fueled by a pair of double-doubles from Tabitha Amanze and Sa’Myah Smith on Thursday night (Jan. 1) at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers (11-3, 3-0 ACC) defeated Clemson (10-5, 1-2 ACC) by a score of 73-63 to remain undefeated in conference play.
Amanze led the team with 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting while going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. She also led the team with 11 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Smith poured in 14 points of her own while converting on a career-high three attempts from beyond the arc and pulling down 10 rebounds. Kymora Johnson tallied 12 points while dishing out eight assists.
The Cavaliers went 21-for-22 from the free-throw line and assisted on 18 of their 23 made baskets. Virginia connected on seven three-pointers and held Clemson to just four after the Tigers had made an ACC-record 21 threes in their last outing.
How It Happened
The Cavaliers built an early advantage in the opening period using a 13-3 to build an 11-point lead [17-6] with just over three minutes to go in the quarter. Amanze led the team in with six points and three rebounds as Virginia took a 22-10 lead into the second period.
Virginia stretched its lead to as many as 17 in the second quarter. However, Clemson continued to chip away and closed the first half with six straight points to cut the lead to nine [34-25]. Amanze led all players with 12 points in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting with eight rebounds. Levy finished the first half with eight points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting including a pair of three-pointers.
The Cavaliers used a 10-1 scoring run in the third to push the lead back into double-digits [46-34], but Clemson answered with a 10-2 run of their own to cut the Cavalier lead to just four [48-44] going into the game’s final period.
Smith highlighted a 10-2 Cavalier run to open the fourth scoring five points of her own including her third make from beyond the arc as the Cavaliers once again opened a 17-point lead [65-48], its largest of the game. Clemson battled back to cut Virginia’s lead to just five [67-62] with under two minutes to play. Defending a two-possession lead, Smith came up with a crucial rebound on the defensive end and Johnson went on to convert on four consecutive free-throws to ice the game.
From Head Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton:
“That was a great team win. Really happy to see us be able to weather the storm and show some poise when it got close. Up until now all of our wins have been blowout wins, so we've got to win some of these games, and we've got to be in some of these games. I was just really, really happy about our resilience and also how we played well together.”
With the Win:
- Virginia improves to 47-35 in the all-time series with Clemson
- UVA is 26-12 against the Tigers at home
- The Cavaliers start their ACC slate with three consecutive wins for the first time since starting 5-0 in conference play in 2017-18
- Virginia improves to 9-1 at JPJ in 2025-26
- The Cavaliers improve their winning streak to five straight games, matching its second-longest streak under Amaka Agugua-Hamilton.
Game Notes
- Double figure scorers: Amanze (18), Smith (14), Johnson (12), Levy (11)
- Amanze (18 pts, 11 reb) recorded her fourth double-double of the season and the fifth of her career
- Smith (14 pts, 10 reb) recorded her first double-double of the season and the seventh of her career
- Two UVA players recorded double-doubles in a game for the second consecutive outing
- Sa’Myah Smith made a career-high 3 three-pointers
- Adeang Ring matched a career-high with 2 three-pointers
- Virginia went 95.2 percent from the free throw line (21-22), its best mark since going 27-28 (vs Boston College 1/15/2023)
- Virginia outrebounded Clemson 34-33 and improves to 11-1 when outrebounding opponents
- UVA recorded eight blocks in the game
- Virginia has recorded 8+ blocks in five games this season
- The Cavaliers shot 50 percent (23-46) from the field and held Clemson to 38 percent (24-63)
Up Next:
Virginia will travel to Florida State on Sunday (Jan. 4). Tipoff from the Donald L. Tucker Center is set for 2 p.m. on ACC Network (ACCN).