BLACKSBURG, Va. — The Virginia women’s basketball team (15-7, 7-4 ACC) fell to Virginia Tech (18-5, 8-3) by a margin of 76-64 on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 1) at Cassell Coliseum.
Kymora Johnson led the Cavaliers with 19 points to go with 3 assists and a pair of rebounds. Gabby White once again gave the Cavaliers an impactful lift off the bench scoring 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting and recording seven rebounds.
Virginia Tech’s Carleigh Wenzel (23 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast) led the Hokies on the stat sheet as Mackenzie Nelson (15 pts), Carys Baker (11 pts), and Samyha Suffren (12 pts) all scored in double figures as well.
How It Happened
Both teams dealt with shooting struggles to start as each went 5-for-18 from the floor in the first period. The Cavaliers trailed by as many as six points midway through the frame, but Virginia closed the period on an 8-0 scoring run in the final two minutes highlighted by a pair of three-point plays from Sa’Myah Smith and White. The Cavaliers took a 12-10 lead into the second quarter.
Virginia took a six-point lead early in the second period following a transition three-pointer from Johnson. However, the Hokies responded with an 14-3 scoring run of their own to take a five-point lead [23-28]. Virgina responded to cut the Hokie advantage down to two going into the half. Johnson led all players in the first half with 11 points. White and Smith pulled down six rebounds apiece to lead all players.
The Cavaliers trailed for the majority of the third period and fell behind by as many as seven points [37-44]. However, Virginia remained in striking distance courtesy of timely three-point plays from Clark and Johnson as the Hoos cut the lead to five [50-55] going into the fourth.
Gabby White led all players with eight points in the final period, but the Cavaliers were outscored 21-14 in the fourth as the team connected on just one of its final 10 attempts from the field.
Game Notes
- Virginia falls to 53-21 in the all-time series with Virginia Tech
- The Cavaliers drop to 4-3 on the road this season
- Double figure scorers: Johnson (19), White (13)
- Virginia’s 28 points mark its third-lowest first-half total of the season
- White (13 pts) scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time in her career
- Sa’Myah Smith led all players with 11 rebounds
- The Cavaliers were held to a season-low five assists; the team entered the game ranked seventh in NCAA Division I with an average of 19.4 per game.
- With three assists today, Johnson’s career total moves to 497; 11 shy of fifth on UVA’s all-time list.
- UVA went 16-21 from the free throw line while Virginia Tech went 25-38
- Virginia outrebounded Virginia Tech by a margin of 41-40 and drops to 15-4 when losing the battle on the boards
- Virginia scored 14 points off eight Virginia Tech turnovers
- The Hokies scored 17 points off 13 UVA turnovers
- The Cavalier bench combined for 29 points
The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash
- The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash, originally called the Commonwealth Challenge (2005-2007), has been a part of the UVA-Virginia Tech rivalry since 2014.
- It is an all-sports, points-based program with the Commonwealth Clash trophy presented to the winning school each year for its dominance in head-to-head competitions.
- In women’s basketball, each of the team’s two matchups will count for half a point. After today’s result, Virginia leads the competition by a score of 5.5-2.0
Up Next:
Virginia is set to host Miami on Thursday (Feb. 5). Tipoff from John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).