CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Kymora Johnson led the Cavaliers with 29 points while surpassing 1,500 career points to lead her team to a win on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 8). Virginia (17-7, 9-4 ACC) defeated Notre Dame (15-9, 7-6 ACC) by a score of 81-70 at John Paul Jones Arena.
Johnson (29 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast) logged her 11th 20-point game of the season as Paris Clark (15 pts, 8 reb, 3 stl) and Tabita Amanze (14 pts, 3 reb, 2 stl) rounded out the double-figure scorers. Gabby White chipped in nine points and four assists as well. Virginia outrebounded the Irish 38-34 and logged 22 points off 19 Notre Dame turnovers.
Hannah Hidalgo led the Irish with 24 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Iyana Moore with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists.
How It Happened
Notre Dame scored each of its first 12 points from beyond the arc as the teams traded blows early. Amanze led the Cavaliers with five points in the period while Smith pitched in four points and three rebounds. Virginia took a one-point lead and held the Irish without a field goal for over four minutes late in the first before Notre Dame beat the buzzer to take an 18-17 lead into the second.
A three-pointer from Clark capped a 6-0 Cavalier run to take a 25-20 lead. UVA outscored Notre Dame 22-13 in the quarter and took its largest lead of the half [39-31] after Levy converted on a three-point play. Virginia scored 13 points off 12 Irish turnovers in the first half and conceded just four points off five turnovers. Johnson led the team with 10 points, three rebounds and four assists in the first half.
Johnson exploded in the third leading the team with 13 points in the quarter on 5-for-6 shooting. The Cavaliers outscored the Irish 26-15 in the frame to take its largest lead of the game [65-46] into the fourth quarter.
Notre Dame outscored Virginia 15-3 in the first six minutes of the final period including a 10-0 scoring run to cut the Cavalier lead to seven [68-61]. However, the Cavaliers responded with five straight points of their own to regain a double-digit advantage with just over 2:30 to play. The Irish would not come within any closer than seven points as the Cavaliers drained six free throws in the final minute to seal the 81-70 victory.
From Head Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton:
“Definitely a great team win. I'm very proud of our group. I thought that we came out very urgently, and we didn't let up. We controlled the game from the tip. We had a confidence about us, a togetherness, and just refused to lose mentality, played the win. I love seeing the maturation of our group. I think there's great things ahead.”
With the Win
- Virginia recorded its ninth ACC win of the season, its most under Agugua-Hamilton
- Virginia improves to 4-12 in the all-time series with Notre Dame
- The Cavaliers are 3-4 against Notre Dame on their home court
- UVA improves to 12-3 at JPJ in 2025-26
Game Notes
- Double-figure scorers: Johnson (29), Clark (15), Amanze (14)
- Johnson recorded the 31st 20-point game of her career and the 11th of the season
- Johnson surpassed 1,500 career points with her total of 1,523
- Johnson passed Tora Suber for fifth in program history with 507 career assists
- Johnson led the Cavaliers in scoring for the 16th time this season
- Virginia outrebounded Notre Dame 38-34 and improves to 17-4 when winning the rebound battle
- The Cavaliers cashed in 22 points on 19 Irish turnovers
- Virginia netted 20+ free throws for the fourth time this season (22 vs. Nebraska, 20 vs. Clemson, 25 at Wake Forest, 22 vs. Notre Dame)
- The Cavaliers recorded double digit steals for the ninth time this season
- Virginia committed just 11 personal fouls, lowest since 7 vs. Howard (Dec. 10, 2025)
- Romi Levy matched her season high in steals (3)
- Virginia outscored Notre Dame 34-22 in the paint
- UVA recorded 11 steals to Notre Dame’s seven
- Virginia led for 32:55 of game time
Up Next:
- The Cavaliers head west to take on California and Stanford next week.
- Virginia plays California on Thursday (Feb. 12) at 10 p.m. ET on ACCNX and takes on Stanford on Sunday (Feb. 15) at 2 p.m. ET on the CW.
- Fans can also tune in live on WINA (98.9FM/1070AM) for radio coverage of both games.