Virginia led by nine early in the fourth quarter, but then went ice cold, missing its last seven shots over an uncomfortable nearly eight-minute stretch.
Defense, ultimately, bailed out the ‘Hoos (13-3, 5-0 ACC, NET: 37) in a 61-59 win at Georgia Tech (7-10, 2-3 ACC, NET: 96) on Thursday in Atlanta.
“We have to learn some stuff from this game, and my thing is, let’s learn the lessons from the wins,” UVA coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said after the nail-biter. “I’m just really happy that we were able to persevere through adversity, get over the hump, but we have to make sure that we learn, and we have to be able to win close games. We did that.”
Tabita Amanze posted a double-double – 11 points, 12 rebounds – for Virginia, which has now won seven straight, and is 5-0 in ACC play for the first time since the 2017-2018 season.
Paris Clark had 14 points (5-of-8 FG, 2-of-2 3FG), and Kymora Johnson had 12 points (3-of-10 FG, 2-of-5 3FG), six boards and six assists.
The Cavaliers were able to hold on by keeping Georgia Tech to 4-of-14 shooting in the final 10 minutes, and surviving a late turnover on an inbounds, with GT’s Talayah Walker missing a contested layup that would have tied the game with two seconds left on the clock.
Around the ACC
- Virginia is in a three-way tie for first in the ACC with #10 Louisville (15-3, 5-0 ACC, NET: 11) and Duke (10-6, 5-0 ACC, NET: 24). Louisville won 77-68 on Thursday at Miami (10-6, 2-3 ACC, NET: 43); Duke won 78-74 at Cal (9-8, 0-4 ACC, NET: 59).
- It’s shaping up to be a bit of a down year for the ACC, which is currently rated fourth in the NET conference rankings, behind the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12, with just Louisville and #22 North Carolina (13-4, 2-2 ACC, NET: 20) in this week’s AP Top 25.
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Chris Graham
