CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Virginia women’s basketball team (19-8, 11-6 ACC) fell to No. 21 North Carolina (24-6, 13-4 ACC) by a score of 82-70 on Thursday night (Feb. 26) at John Paul Jones Arena.
Kymora Johnson led all players with 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting (5-11 3FG) while dishing out four assists and two rebounds. Romi Levy scored 15 points with five rebounds while Paris Clark recorded nine points, five assists and three rebounds.
Elina Aarnisalo led Carolina with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting with seven rebounds as five Tar Heels scored in double figures. Carolina combined to shoot 58 percent from the floor (29-50) including a 66-percent clip from beyond the arc setting a JPJ record with 16 makes on 24 attempts.
How it Happened
North Carolina opened the game on a 9-0 run as Virginia missed its first nine field‑goal attempts. The Cavaliers started just 1‑for‑12 from the floor, but their defensive pressure forced four early Tar Heel turnovers, and a transition layup from Breona Hurd trimmed the deficit to 9-5. UVA trailed 15-8 after the first quarter, with Carolina’s Nyla Harris leading all players with four points in the period.
The Tar Heels extended their lead early in the second, outscoring Virginia 11-5 in the first four minutes to push the margin into double figures at 26-13. Carolina’s advantage grew to as many as 19 points [40-21] with 2:09 remaining in the half, fueled by Aarnisalo’s hot shooting, as she knocked down four of her first seven attempts and went 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. Virginia went into halftime trailing 40-23.
Carolina mounted a 7-2 run to open the second half and extend its lead to 22 points [47-25]. However, the Cavaliers made a 16-8 run of their own highlighted by back-to-back Johnson 3-pointers to trim the Carolina lead to 11 [47-58]. Virginia shot 53 percent from the floor in the period and outscored the Tar Heels 24-20.
In the fourth, Romi Levy drilled a three pointer to pull within single digits [57-66] for the first time since the 8:27 mark of the second quarter. However, the Tar Heels protected a double digit lead for the remainder of the quarter while connecting four times from beyond the arc in the final period.
From Head Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton:
“I mean credit to North Carolina. I thought they played really, really well. That was disappointing, it's hard to beat a team if they make 16 threes in your game and in your gym. That's a phenomenal shooting night for them. I just didn't think we were clicking and on the same page. We didn't start out as urgently as we needed to. There were parts of the game that were urgent and where we were locked in, but it's a 40-minute game. I think we dug ourselves a little bit of a hole, and they were able to capitalize with some threes.”
Game Notes
- The defeat snaps Virginia’s two-game win streak over UNC
- UVA drops to 1-2 against ranked opposition in 2025-26
- Double-figure scorers: Johnson (22), Levy (15)
- Kymora Johnson recorded her 13th 20-point game of the season and marked her 24th in double figures
- Johnson went 5-for-11 from 3-point range and recorded the ninth game of her career with at least five 3-pointers
- Romi Levy’s 15 points mark a season high
- Levy scored in double figures for the eighth time this season
- Virginia shot 40 percent (26-65) from the field while Carolina shot 58 percent (29-50)
- North Carolina shot 66 percent (16-24) from deep while Virginia shot 33 percent (7-21)
- Carolina’s 16 3-pointers mark a JPJ record
- The Cavaliers were outrebounded 33-30 and drop to 1-4 when being outrebounded
- UVA forced UNC into 17 turnovers while committing just 10
- Virginia recorded 16 second-chance points to UNC’s nine
- The Cavaliers went 11-13 from the free-throw line
Up Next:
- The Cavaliers close the regular season against Virginia Tech on Sunday (March 1). Tipoff from JPJ is set for 12 p.m. on ACC Network (ACCN).
- Fans can also tune in live on WINA (98.9FM/1070AM)