UVA closes out regular season against fifth-ranked Hokies at JPJ

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Posted on Saturday, Mar. 2, 2024, 8:00 pm

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Photo: UVA Athletics

Virginia closes out its regular-season campaign, the second under head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, when the Cavaliers host No. 5 Virginia Tech at John Paul Jones Arena in a Smithfield Commonwealth Clash on Sunday.

Both teams look to get back on track ahead of next week’s ACC Tournament after suffering losses this past Thursday.

FOR OPENERS

  • The Cavaliers (14-14, 6-11 ACC) have won four of their last six games, including most recently over then-No. 20 Louisville last Sunday (Feb. 25).
  • First year guard Kymora Johnson is leading the Cavaliers in scoring (17.5) in ACC play and has six 20-point games in conference matchups this season.
  • UVA and the Hokies (23-5, 14-3) met in Blacksburg earlier this year on Feb. 1 as then-17th ranked Tech prevailed, 76-63.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

  • Jenn Hildreth (play-by-play) and Mike Thibault (analyst) will have the call on ACC Network.
  • The game will also be broadcast on 98.9-FM/1070-AM WINA, VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports mobile app.
  • Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports mobile app.

A WIN FOR THE CAVALIERS WOULD…

  • Give Virginia its fourth win over a ranked opponent this season, a first since 2008-09.
  • Be UVA’s fifth victory in its last seven games.
  • Snap a five-game losing skid in the series against the Hokies.
  • Be the Cavaliers’ first win over a top-5 opponent since toppling No. 4 Florida State, 60-51, at JPJ on Feb. 16 , 2017 and the program’s 12th all-time upset over a top-5 opponent.
  • Give Virginia its seventh ACC victory of the season, one more than in the previous three seasons combined.

SERIES HISTORY

  • Virginia leads the all-time series, which began in 1974, 51-19.
  • Virginia is 24-9 all-time against the Hokies in games held in Charlottesville.
  • Tech has won the last five meetings of the series and are winners of the last three contests at JPJ.
  • From 2007-15, the Cavaliers won 18 straight games in the series.
  • The Hokies have won seven of the last eight meetings.
  • On Jan. 26, 2017, the Cavaliers posted one of the most dominant victories in program history in a 76-27 rout over VT at John Paul Jones Arena.

SMITHFIELD COMMONWEALTH CLASH

  • The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash is a rivalry between Virginia and Virginia Tech across all school-sponsored sports with 21 individual event points on the line.
  • The school that accumulates 11 points or more will be crowned the winner of the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash trophy.
  • Sunday’s UVA-VT game is worth a half point in the Clash as the Cavaliers currently lead 6.5–6.0 in this year’s standings.
  • Virginia captured the Clash in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2023, while Virginia Tech won the Clash in 2017, 2018 and 2022. The 2020 and 2021 clashes were canceled due to the pandemic.

LAST MEETING BETWEEN THE HOOS & VIRGINIA TECH

  • The Cavaliers fell 76-63 to No. 17 Virginia Tech in front of a sold out crowd at Cassell Coliseum on Feb. 1.
  • Kymora Johnson (22 points) and Paris Clark (18 points) combined for 40 points.
  • Virginia was outrebounded 47-31, its largest rebounding deficit in a game this season.
  • The Cavaliers were without All-ACC second team selection Camryn Taylor (injury) and point guard Yonta Vaughn (injury).

HOT DOG NIGHT IN JPJ

  • To say thank you to its passionate and devoted women’s basketball fanbase, Virginia is offering everyone in attendance for Sunday’s regular-season finale a $5 hotdog–drink combo.
  • The original ‘Hot Dog Night’ traces back to when the Cavaliers drew a record crowd of 11,174 at University Hall on Feb. 5, 1986, when No. 3 UVA hosted No. 15 North Carolina.
  • According to an article published by Jeff White (VirginiaSports.com) in 2009, the local fire marshal, concerned about the crowd size on “Hot Dog Night,” reduced U-Hall’s official capacity by several hundred seats as a result.
  • The attendance record stood for nearly 24 years before a similar hot dog-and-soda promotion drew 11,895 people to John Paul Jones Arena for a game against No. 6 Tennessee in November 2009.
  • Sunday’s game is expected to be one of, if not, the most attended women’s basketball game in school history.

2024 SENIOR NIGHT

  • Immediately after the conclusion of Sunday’s game, Virginia will honor Sam Brunelle, London Clarkson, Taylor Lauterbach, Kaydan Lawson and Camryn Taylor for Senior Night.

LAST TIME OUT

  • Virginia fell 73-54 at Duke this past Thursday night (Feb. 29).
  • The Blue Devils scored the first nine points to gain an early advantage and never looked back.
  • The Cavaliers shot 37 percent from the field, while Duke shot 51 percent. Among UVA’s 20 made field goals, only one was a 3-pointer.
  • UVA was led by Kymora Johnson, who scored a team-high 14 points and pulled down six rebounds. Paris Clark (12 pts) and Camryn Taylor (11 pts) also scored in double figures for the Hoos.
  • Duke’s Reigan Richardson led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting.

WINS OVER RANKED OPPONENTS

  • For the first time since the 2008-09 season, the Cavaliers have recorded three wins over ranked opponents (at #15 Florida State, vs. #20 North Carolina and at #20 Louisville).
  • Prior to Virginia naming Amaka Agugua-Hamilton head coach on March 21, 2022, the Cavaliers had lost 27 consecutive matchups to ranked opponents.
  • Entering its matchup against FSU, the Cavaliers were 3-47 in their last 50 games against ranked opponents.

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 1,000 new season ticket holders this year.
  • For games played through March 1, Virginia is currently fifth in the ACC and No. 29 in the nation in attendance (4,367/gm).
  • Virginia hosted a season-high 6,619 spectators in its most recent home game against Syracuse (Feb. 18), which also marked its fourth-highest paid attendance women’s basketball game since JPJ in opened in 2006.

ON THE HORIZON                                             

The Cavaliers await their next opponent in the first round of the ACC Tournament in at Greensboro Coliseum on Wednesday.