Cavaliers open season against Maryland Eastern Shore

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia women’s basketball team opens its 2023-24 season by hosting Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday. Tipoff from John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).

BROADCAST INFORMATION 

• Tuesday’s season opener will stream on ACCNX on espn.com/watch and the ESPN app. 
• The game will also be broadcast on WINA (98.9FM/1070AM), VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports mobile app. 
• Live statistics will be provided through Statbroadcast, which can be accessed on VirginiaSports.com and the UVA Sports mobile app. 

FOR OPENERS 

• Virginia begins its 51st season of women’s basketball, sporting a 960-533 (.643) all-time record. 
• UVA meets Maryland Eastern Shore for just the third time in series history, which the Cavaliers lead 2-0. 
• Virginia won last year’s season opener, 85-59, against George Washington. 
• Under head coach Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton, Virginia is 11-0 against non-conference opponents. 

THE RETURNERS 

• This season, Virginia returns eight players from last year’s squad, including Second Team All-ACC selection Camryn Taylor and 2024 Katrina McClain Watch List (nation’s top power forward) selection Sam Brunelle. 
• Other returners include guards Kaydan Lawson, Alexia Smith, Cady Pauley and Yonta Vaughn, and forwards Mir McLean and London Clarkson. 

THE NEWCOMERS 

• First years Kymora Johnson, Olivia McGhee and Edessa Noyan make up the nation’s No. 13 recruiting class. 
• In addition to Brunelle, both Johnson and McGhee are natives of the Charlottesville-area, while Noyan hails from Sweden. 
• Johnson was also a two-time Gatorade Virginia Girls Basketball Player of the Year while attending St. Anne’s-Belfield. 
• In addition to its freshman class, UVA signed three players from the transfer portal this offseason in guards Paris Clark (Arizona) and Jillian Brown (Northwestern), and 6-7 center Taylor Lauterbach (Kansas State). 
• Clark was ranked the nation’s No. 33 transfer this offseason according to ESPN.com. 

EVERYBODY WANTS SOME 

• After finishing fourth in the ACC in attendance (3,489) in 2022-23, UVA set a program record for season tickets sold this offseason after adding over 1,000 new season ticket holders this year. 
• Last season, Virginia also hosted 6,378 fans for National Girls and Women in Sports Day and Senior Day, which marked the highest attendance for a UVA women’s basketball non-field trip day game since 2011. 

2023-24 SEASON OPPONENTS 

• This season, UVA faces 10 different opponents that reached the 2023 NCAA Tournament. 
• Both Oklahoma and reigning-national champion LSU are the two non-conference opponents that earned tournament berths. 
• Eight ACC teams made the NCAA Tournament last season in Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, NC State, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. 
• All four of UVA’s ACC travel pod partners (Duke, NCSU, UNC & VT), which the Cavaliers will have to face twice during the regular season, made the big dance last year.