ATLANTA, Ga. — Led by a double-double from Tabitha Amanze and an efficient shooting night from Paris Clark, the Cavaliers (13-3, 5-0 ACC) defeated Georgia Tech (7-10, 2-3 ACC) by a score of 61-59 on Thursday night (Jan. 8) at McCamish Pavilion. The Cavaliers came up with crucial defensive stops late in the game to extend their winning streak to seven straight and start 5-0 in ACC play for the first time since 2017-18.
Virginia combined to block 13 shots for the second consecutive game led by Caitlin Weimar’s six blocked shots in the first half. Weimar finished the game with eight points, six rebounds, six blocks and one steal in her second start of the season.
Clark (14 pts, 5-8 FG, 2-2 3FG, 3 ast) led the Cavaliers offensively while Amanze (11 pts, 12 reb, 3 blk) recorded her fifth double-double of the season. Kymora Johnson netted 12 points to go with six rebounds, six assists and one steal.
The Yellow Jackets were led by Talayah Walker (21 pts, 11-12 FT, 8 reb) and Briann Turnage (9 pts, 7 reb, 5 stl) on the stat sheet. Georgia Tech shot just 28 percent from the floor (17-61) but went 22-for-26 from the free-throw line.
How It Happened
Virginia scored the first nine points of the game led by a hot start from Romi Levy who poured in four points with one assist and a pair of steals to help the Cavaliers build an early advantage. Georgia Tech scored nine straight points, including seven from the free-throw line, to take their first lead [12-13]. The Cavaliers trailed by a score of 15-13 going into the second quarter.
Virginia scored the first 10 points of the second quarter to stretch its lead to as many as eight points [23-15] before Georgia Tech answered with five straight points of their own. The Cavaliers took a five-point lead into the break [31-26] led offensively by Johnson (8 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast) who converted on a pair of three-pointers late in the half. Weimar blocked six shots in the opening half as UVA combined for nine blocks in the first 20 minutes.
Georgia Tech cut the Cavalier lead to as few as two points [36-34] in the third quarter, but Virginia outscored the Yellow Jackets 22-20 in the period to take a seven-point lead [53-46] into the fourth quarter. Clark led the Cavaliers in the third scoring seven of her 14 points in the frame.
The Yellow Jackets continued to chip away, cutting the Cavalier lead to as few as two points [59-57] with under two minutes remaining. Brown came up with an important block as well as the game-sealing rebound on the defensive end.
From Head Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton:
“We have to learn some stuff from this game. And my thing is, let's learn the lessons from the wins. So, I'm just really happy that we were able to persevere through adversity, get over the hump, but we have to make sure that we learn, and we have to be able to win close games. We did that. We were down one obviously, Sa'Myah Smith wasn't here. So, I thought our bigs stepped up. Tabbie stepped up, Caitlin stepped up. I think there was a little bit of fatigue there from some of our guards, where they pushed through. And so, I'm just happy with the win. Winning on the road in this conference isn't easy. It's something that we've struggled with before. So, I'm just happy to see us get over that hump”
With the Win:
- Virginia improves to 60-20 in the all-time series with Georgia Tech
- The Cavaliers start their ACC slate with five consecutive wins for the first time since starting 5-0 in conference play in 2017-18
- The Cavaliers improve their overall winning streak to seven straight games, its second-longest streak under Amaka Agugua-Hamilton.
- Virginia’s five-game winning streak in ACC play is the longest under Agugua-Hamilton
Game Notes
- Double figure scorers: Clark (14), Johnson (12) Amanze (11)
- Amanze (11 pts, 12 reb) recorded her fifth double-double of the season
- Amanze’s 12 rebounds match a career-high
- Caitlin Weimar recorded six blocks, just one shy of her career-high
- Weimar made her second start of the season
- Kymora Johnson led the team with six assists, she has recorded 5+ assists in 14 of Virginia’s 16 games
- The Cavaliers blocked 13 shots and have recorded double-figures in blocks five times this season, they lead NCAA Division I with 8.4 blocks per game
- UVA has blocked 13+ shots in back-to-back games
- Virginia won the rebound battle 45-35 and improves to 13-1 when outrebounding its opponents
- Romi Levy led Virginia with three steals
- Three Cavaliers recorded 4+ offensive rebounds: Amanze (5), Hurd (4), Weimar (4)
- Virginia recorded 18 assists on 23 made field goals
- UVA has recorded 18+ assists in 11 games this season
- The Cavaliers outscored Georgia Tech 30-22 in the paint
Up Next:
Virginia returns home to take on Syracuse on Sunday (Jan. 11). Tipoff from John Paul Jones Arena is set for 2 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).