Virginia Collapses in First Round Loss to Wake Forest at ACC Tournament

The Demon Deacons used a 20-3 fourth quarter run to stun the Cavaliers 58-55 in the first round of the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament

It'll be another short stay in Greensboro for the Virginia women's basketball team. 

After exploding in the third quarter to take a 15-point lead, the Cavaliers crumbled in the fourth and watched that lead vanish as Wake Forest (7-24) used a 20-3 run in the final period to pull off a stunning comeback and send Virginia (15-15) home with a harrowing 58-55 defeat in the first round of the 2024 ACC Women's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday night at Greensboro Coliseum. This marks the third season in a row that the Cavaliers have been sent home by the Demon Deacons in the first round of the ACC Tournament. 

Just a few days after knocking off then-No. 5 Virginia Tech in a thrilling 80-75 victory in the regular season finale on Sunday, UVA came out flat against a Wake team that came in with just six wins on the season. Virginia turned the ball over 10 times in the first half and trailed Wake Forest 25-23 at the half. 

The Cavaliers got their act together in the third quarter, as Camryn Taylor scored nine points, Kymora Johnson added seven, and UVA shot 62.5% from the floor to double its point total from the first half and take a 46-35 lead to the fourth quarter. 

Though it seemed Virginia had taken control of the game at that point, the Cavaliers failed to carry that momentum into the fourth quarter, instead letting the Demon Deacons flip the script. Wake Forest knocked down three-consecutive three-pointers to spark the run, while UVA went ice-cold, making only one field goal in the fourth quarter until the final 10 seconds of regulation, but by then Wake had already sealed the game. Camryn Taylor hit a three with nine seconds left and Kymora Johnson banked in a half-court heave at the buzzer, but those baskets only served to narrow the final score to 58-55. 

Even with those threes, Wake Forest still outscored Virginia 23-9 in the fourth, a staggering collapse for the Cavaliers, who can and should have cruised past the six-win Demon Deacons and into the second round of the ACC Tournament. Instead, it's another early exit for UVA, whose most recent win at the ACC Tournament was back in 2019. 

Read Val's Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.

The loss drops Virginia to 15-15 overall and eliminates the Cavaliers from any slim chance they had of playing themselves into consideration for the NCAA Tournament. UVA will instead await an invitation to the Women's National Invitation Tournament, with the field set to be announced on Sunday, March 17th. 

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