Virginia Survives Three-Overtime Thriller at Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.  —  The Virginia women’s basketball team (15‑6, 7‑3 ACC) survived a three‑overtime thriller, defeating Wake Forest (12‑10, 2‑8 ACC) by a score of 109-103 on Thursday afternoon (Jan. 29) at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Kymora Johnson scored 26 points, while Caitlin Weimar and Gabby White combined for 47 points off the bench to power the Cavaliers to a road victory in its second consecutive overtime game.  

Johnson led the way with 26 points while dishing out eight assists and pulling down six rebounds. Caitlin Weimar (25 pts, 8-12 FG, 9-10 FT, 10 reb) delivered season highs in points, free-throws made, and free-throws attempted. Freshman Gabby White recorded a career high 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists to notch her first career double-double. 

Romi Levy (12 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast) and Tabitha Amanze (11 pts, 7 reb) rounded out a total of five Virginia players in double figures. The Cavaliers dominated the glass by a margin of 54-37 and converted 22 second-chance points off 23 offensive rebounds. 

How It Happened

The Cavaliers struggled from the floor in the opening period shooting 6-for-20 and connecting on just one of seven attempts from beyond the arc. Wake Forest went 6-for-12 in the opening period, but Virginia’s five second chance points helped the Cavaliers take a 14-13 advantage into the second. 

Virginia found its rhythm in the second quarter shooting over 66 percent (10-for-15) highlighted by Johnson who went a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the period. The Cavaliers closed on a 19-4 scoring run over the final six minutes to take a 40-25 lead into halftime. The lead eventually grew to as many as 18 points with two minutes to play in the third quarter. However, Wake Forest closed the frame on an 8-0 scoring run to cut the Virginia lead to 10 points [61-51] going into the fourth. 

Virginia led by double digits [68-58] with seven minutes to go, but a 15-6 scoring run for the Demon Deacons saw the Cavalier lead dwindle to just one [74-73] with just under two minutes to play in the fourth. The Cavaliers forced Wake into a missed three-pointer with 44 seconds to go before Weimar knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 76-73. On the ensuing Wake Forest possession, Milan Brown drilled a buzzer-beating three-pointer to force Virginia’s third overtime game of the season.

The Cavaliers led by as many as five points in the first overtime period. However, with Virginia leading by three with 13 seconds to go, Wake’s Grace Oliver was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three at the line to force a second overtime. It was then Virginia’s turn to rally from a late deficit. After a pair of missed Wake Forest free throws, Weimar drilled a two at the other end to tie the game at 84-84 and force a third overtime. 

Virginia outscored Wake Forest 14-8 in the final overtime period and took control of the final moments when Johnson found Levy on a backdoor cut who converted on a three-point play to take a six-point lead [101-95]. After setting up a Sa’Myah Smith layup, Johnson closed the game out going 4-for-4 at the free-throw line. 

From Head Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton:

“First of all, I am just really proud of our resiliency. We were up by almost 20 points, and we really should have been able to close it out, but this is the ACC and it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. It doesn’t matter what their record is, every team is good, and we relaxed a little bit. We got discombobulated, we weren’t on the same page, and we had to find a way to push through that. We were able to do that, and I’m just very proud of our group.” 

With the Win…

• UVA improves to 2-1 in overtime games this season
• The Cavaliers recorded their first win in at least three overtimes since a 94-92 4OT win over NC State (2/10/11)
• Virginia improves to 5-0 all-time in games that require at least three overtime periods 
• The Cavaliers played back-to-back overtime games for the first time since the 2010 season (at Miami 2/11/10, vs North Carolina 2/15/10)
• UVA is 39-24 overall in overtime games
• Virginia improves to 73-11 in the all-time series with Wake Forest
• The Cavaliers are 33-4 on the road against the Demon Deacons
• Virginia improves to 4-2 on the road in 2025-26

Game Notes

• Double-figure scorers: Johnson (26), Weimar (25), White (22), Levy (12), Amanze (11) 
• Gabby White notched a career high with 22 points
• White also recorded a career-high 12 rebounds 
• White’s six assists matched a career-high
• White (22 pts, 12 reb) recorded her first career double-double
• Caitlin Weimar’s 25 points mark a season high
• Weimar tied a career-high with nine made free throws (9-for-10)
• Weimar (25 pts, 10 reb) recorded her third double-double of the season and the 48^th of her career. 
• Weimar recorded the 59^th game of her career with at least 10 rebounds
• Weimar notched the 24^th 20-point game of her career
• Johnson recorded the 30^th 20-point game of her career
• Johnson went 5-for-7 from beyond the arc
• Virginia scored 40 first-half points in ACC play for the third time this season; all three of which came on the road
• Virginia outrebounded Wake Forest 54-37 and improves to 15-3 when outrebounding its opponents
• Virginia won the turnover battle 17-21 and is 9-1 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent

Up Next:

Virginia is set to travel to Virginia Tech on Sunday (Feb. 1). Tipoff from Cassell Coliseum is set for 2 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).