Virginia women’s basketball had not lost since Dec. 3, 2025 — a streak highlighted by an undefeated start to ACC play, the first of Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton’s tenure.
A 6-0 conference start was at play Sunday, but Syracuse came to Charlottesville and boatraced Agugua-Hamilton’s squad by nearly doubling the Cavaliers (13-4, 5-1 ACC) scoring total in the second half.
Virginia could not keep up, and lost 79-60.
“I thought we had the game under control for three quarters,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “It was a very embarrassing fourth quarter.”
The Cavaliers held a six-point lead at halftime, yet the Orange (14-3, 4-2 ACC) whittled the Cavalier lead to two points in the waning seconds of the third quarter. With seven seconds left in the third quarter, a late flagrant foul was called on junior guard Kymora Johnson, which gifted Syracuse a pair of free throws and an additional possession.
That call elicited a chorus of boos from the energetic John Paul Jones Arena crowd of 5,797 — the largest since 2024 — and it firmly swung momentum in the Orange’s favor. When asked about the play postgame, Agugua-Hamilton did not offer a comment.
Regardless, Virginia entered the fourth quarter trailing by just two points. The win was ripe for the taking, but the Cavalier defense cratered, and Syracuse pulled away. When Virginia did manage to get the ball back, the Cavaliers could not hit the clutch shots required to regain a lead. Syracuse ended the game on a 15-2 scoring run.
In that scoring drought, the Cavaliers missed five three-point shots, bricked a midrange jump shot, missed a layup, missed a free throw and coughed up two turnovers.
Sunday’s challenge was Virginia’s toughest in conference play thus far, taking on the ACC’s fifth place team in the Orange. Syracuse has not lost often this year, though its previous losses were defined by uncharacteristic defensive lapses in losses by double digits.
The Orange that came to JPJ, however, showcased stingy defense all afternoon and forced Virginia into multiple shot clock violations, errant passes and a whopping 21 turnovers.
“I just don't think we were on the same page [offensively],” Agugua-Hamilton said.
After all, the Cavalier offense managed to score just 26 points in the entire second half.
“We had wide open shots that we need to hit, and we didn't, we didn't hit, you know?” Agugua-Hamilton said. “They were playing zone, especially down the stretch. We weren't hitting the shots we need to hit.”
On the other end, Syracuse had no issue lighting up the scoreboard. Senior guard Laila Phelia torched the Cavaliers with a season-high 38 points. Her running mate, junior guard Sophie Burrows, tallied 21 points. Phelia and Burrows totaled nearly 75 percent of Syracuse’s scoring.
“[Phelia] had a field day today,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “We tried to switch matchups [to] try to trap her… She just really had her way today.”
Junior forward Sa’Myah Smith was unavailable due to a personal matter, so graduate forward Caitlin Weimar got the start at forward — and she made an impact with extra minutes. Weimar contributed 15 points and eight rebounds. Agugua-Hamilton said she hopes to have Smith return soon, but does not know when exactly that will be.
As for the whole team, the road ahead will continue to become more and more difficult for the Cavaliers. Of their remaining 12 games, 10 are against ACC foes with winning records and NCAA Tournament aspirations.
“We just got to get tougher, and we will,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “I think we do a good job of punching when people punch back, we just got to stop the bleeding and make sure we stay together. [I] think that's the biggest thing. Even when things aren't going our way, we just got to stay together and play for each other.”
Virginia’s first chance to rebound will come Thursday, an 8:00 p.m. clash at Duke, which will be broadcast on ACC Network.
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