By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — On a weekend when many of Debbie Ryan’s former players and staffers returned to Grounds to celebrate her illustrious career, there was no better way for the current University of Virginia women’s basketball team to honor Ryan than with a winning performance at John Paul Jones Arena. And that’s exactly what the Cavaliers produced Sunday afternoon.
In what ranks as its best victory of the season, UVA defeated ACC rival Notre Dame 81-70 in front of an appreciative crowd of 5,223 that included Ryan, who led the program for 34 seasons (1977-78 to 2010-11). Under Ryan, who was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008, the Wahoos made 24 trips to the NCAA tournament and advanced to the Final Four three times.
The court in the women’s basketball gym at JPJ was named for Ryan during an alumni dinner Saturday, and at halftime Sunday a banner commemorating her legendary career was raised to the rafters in the northwest corner of the arena. It hangs across from similar banners honoring former UVA men’s coaches Terry Holland and Tony Bennett.
“Debbie's done so much for this place,” said Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, who’s in her fourth season as Virginia’s head coach. “Her name is synonymous with UVA women's basketball. And just about 99% of those [women’s basketball] banners up there, she was a part of and led the charge.”
Ryan now works in fundraising for UVA Athletics, and “we appreciate everything she does,” Agugua-Hamilton said.
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— Virginia Women's Basketball (@UVAWomensHoops) February 8, 2026
The current Cavaliers also drew inspiration from former players like Wendy Palmer, who encouraged them to have “that dog mentality,” junior guard Kymora Johnson recalled with a smile Sunday.
The alumni “kind of added some fuel to our fire,” Aguga-Hamilton said. “They talked to our players and just gave them extra boosts. too, and it's great to be around those that wore the same jersey as them and are hanging in the rafters and take so much pride in this school, because that's how they're going to be, too, when they leave their legacy.”
Before the game, Johnson said, she reminded senior guard Paris Clark of Palmer’s advice. “So we came out and we knew had to lead our team,” Johnson said, “and I think we did just that today.”
Johnson finished with a game-high 29 points and also had five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Clark scored 15 points—her most since Jan. 4—pulled down eight rebounds and made three steals.
The Cavaliers (17-7 overall, 9-4 ACC) employed a zone defense that forced 19 turnovers, and they turned those Notre Dame mistakes into 22 points.
The Fighting Irish (15-9, 7-6) shot well from 3-point range (10 of 24), but inside the arc they were only 13 of 31.
“They did hit some 3s,” Agugua-Hamilton said, “but I thought we had control over what was going on in the zone. We were flying around, we were getting stops, and we were creating offense from our defense.”