Virginia's Rally Falls Short in 86-76 Loss to No. 19 Notre Dame

The Cavaliers cut a 20-point deficit down to six, but couldn't fully close the gap as UVA remained winless in ACC play

Virginia's latest attempt to earn its first win in conference play would have required a remarkable 20-point comeback against yet another ranked ACC foe. Though had it not been for the stellar play of Notre Dame's duo of Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron, as well as a hefty disparity in fouls and free throws that left UVA at a massive disadvantage, the Cavaliers might have done just that. 

Instead, Virginia (8-9, 0-6 ACC) remained winless in ACC play as its rally effort fell short in an 86-76 loss to No. 19 Notre Dame (13-3, 4-2 ACC) on Thursday night at John Paul Jones Arena. 

As compared to Virginia's last two games, both of which required Coach Mox to call a timeout in the first few minutes of the game as UVA's opponents raced out to early leads, the Cavaliers started this game a lot stronger, using an 8-2 run to take a 12-9 lead midway through the opening quarter. Kymora Johnson spearheaded that effort, scoring or assisting on each of Virginia's made baskets in the first quarter. 

Thursday's game featured an entertaining matchup between two sensational freshman point guards, as Johnson went head-to-head with Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, who currently leads the ACC in scoring at 24.2 points per game and is third in assists. Hidalgo had six points and three assists in the first period alone to help the Irish finish strong on a 5-0 run, taking a 24-16 lead at the end of one. 

With Camryn Taylor sitting with two personal fouls, Virginia got a big lift from graduate center Taylor Lauterbach, who knocked down a pair of free throws and then knocked down just her second three-pointer of the season to help the Cavaliers keep pace in the second quarter. Still, Notre Dame managed to build a lead as large as 10 at 39-29, but UVA answered with layups from Paris Clark and Olivia McGhee to draw back to 39-33 at halftime. 

The two teams' shooting statistics were nearly identical at halftime, with both the Cavaliers and the Fighting Irish shooting around 40% from the floor, near 20% from three, and exactly 9/10 from the free throw line. The key difference was that Notre Dame scored 12 points off of 10 UVA turnovers in the first half, as compared to just five Irish turnovers. Those takeaways often led to transition points for the Fighting Irish, who had 13 fastbreak points in the first half. 

What was a tight game at halftime threatened to become a total blowout in the third quarter as the Cavaliers came out completely flat-footed. Virginia didn't score until almost four minutes into the second half and shot just 4/16 from the field in the third quarter with eight more turnovers. Notre Dame, meanwhile, shot 7/13 in the quarter and opened up a lead as large as 20 points at 60-40. UVA battled to get that deficit down to 14, but the Irish still took a sizable 64-47 lead into the final frame. 

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

"There's been at least one quarter that really hurt us - today was the third quarter, even though the first quarter I thought we started good and then they beat us in the first quarter, but we beat them in the second, we beat them in the fourth," said Coach Mox after the game. "Third quarter was pretty bad and it's just difficult to always be trying to dig yourself out of a hole, even though we did."

Foul trouble continued to be an issue for both Camryn Taylor and the Cavaliers and ended up dooming what otherwise could have been a remarkable comeback. Taylor fouled out after scoring only six points with 7:46 left in regulation, but Virginia kept battling. The Cavaliers effectively pressed the Fighting Irish and forced seven fourth-quarter turnovers. Three-pointers from Olivia McGhee, Paris Clark, and eventually Kymora Johnson got the Cavaliers back within six at 76-70 with just under three minutes to go. 

But between UVA's penchant for fouling and, to be more specific, the misfortune of being on the wrong side of more than a few questionable calls, as well as the steady play of Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron, who combined to score 20 of Notre Dame's 22 fourth quarter points, the Irish held on for the 86-76 win. A blow-by layup by Hidalgo plus a foul ended up being the dagger with a little over a minute remaining. Hidalgo finished with 23 points and nine assists, while Citron led all scorers with 28 points. Citron was a perfect 12/12 from the free throw line and Hidalgo went 11/14. 

Virginia was whistled for 35 total fouls in the game, sending the Irish 44 times to the free throw line, where they converted 33 of those attempts. UVA was fantastic at the foul line, but on less than half of Notre Dame's attempts at 17/18. 

"We can't give up 33 points from the free throw line. That's points you can't guard. I mean, we just gave them 33 points," said Coach Mox. "We do have some bright spots - we talked about that in the locker room - but we're focused on getting a win. And I know once we get that first win in conference, it'll continue to trickle down."

Kymora Johnson had a complete game with 16 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists and fellow freshman Olivia McGhee joined her in double figures with 14 points as she made her second start of the season. Paris Clark contributed 16 points and seven rebounds for the Cavaliers, who fell to 0-6 in ACC play. 

Yet another ranked opponent awaits for Virginia, who travels to Tallahassee take on No. 15 Florida State on Sunday at 2pm on ACC Network Extra. 

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