DULUTH, Ga. — The eighth-seeded Virginia women’s basketball team (19-11) fell to ninth-seeded Clemson (21-10) by a score of 63-50 in the second round of the 2026 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Paris Clark led the Cavaliers with 15 points while pulling down four rebounds and dishing one assist. Kymora Johnson scored 12 points while dishing three assists and pulling down four rebounds. The Cavaliers outrebounded the Tigers 39-35 led by Sa’Myah Smith who tied to lead all players with 11 boards.
Clemson used an efficient fourth-quarter to pull away at the end as the Tigers shot 85-percent (6-for-7) from the floor in the final frame. Clemson’s Mia Moore led all players with 19 points on the day while pulling down four rebounds and dishing two assists.
How it Happened
Kymora Johnson started the scoring connecting on her first attempt from long range. Clemson responded with a 7-0 scoring run as Virginia trailed by as many as five points [5-10] in the opening period. UVA trimmed the deficit to 15-14 going into the second as Romi Levy led all players with five points in the opening frame.
Neither team led by more than four points in a back-and-forth second quarter. The Cavaliers leaned on Clark’s hot shooting in the second period as the senior guard went 3-for-5 from the field while connecting on one 3-pointer to lead all players with seven points in the period. Virginia went into the half trailing by a score of 28-26.
After falling behind 33-26, the Cavaliers highlighted the third period with 10 consecutive points from a combined four players to take a 36-33 advantage. The scoring run marked UVA’s largest of the day as the team went into the fourth trailing by a score of 43-39.
Moore led the charge for Clemson in the fourth as she scored 10 points in the frame on a perfect 4-for-4 from the field while connecting on the Tigers’ only 3-point attempt of the period. The Cavaliers shot the ball at a 33-percent clip (5-for-15) in the final period and were outscored 20-11 in the frame.
From Head Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton:
"Obviously, this is very disappointing. First of all, credit to Clemson. I thought they played very well, very urgent, and really wanted it.
"But I think we didn't control things that we could control that put us in that situation. Wasn't really expecting for us to play the way that we did. It was disappointing, but I do believe that we are still an NCAA Tournament team, and we've got to bounce back and get ready for that."
Game Notes:
- Double figure scorers: Clark (15), Johnson (12)
- Kymora Johnson tied Donna Holt (1,634 pts) for the 10th most points in program history
- Paris Clark has scored 14+ points in three of Virginia’s last four games
- Sa’Myah Smith matched a season-high with three blocks and recorded her fourth multi-block game of the season
- UVA outrebounded Clemson 39-35 and drops to 18-6 when winning the battle on the boards
- Virginia scored 14 second-chance points and held Clemson to zero
- The Clemson bench outscored Virginia’s bench 25-11
- Virginia outscored Clemson 24-16 in the paint
- The game featured 11 lead changes and three ties
- The Cavaliers fall to 46-36 all-time against Clemson
- Virginia is 38-45 in the ACC Tournament all-time
Up Next:
- The NCAA Women’s Basketball selection show is set for Sunday (March 15). The show will air live on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET.