Kymora Johnson scored 26 points and Virginia outlasted Wake Forest 109–103 in a three-overtime thriller Thursday afternoon at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Caitlin Weimar and Gabby White combined for 47 points off the bench as the Cavaliers (15–6, 7–3 Atlantic Coast Conference) earned their second consecutive overtime victory. Wake Forest fell to 12–10 overall and 2–8 in ACC play.
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Johnson added eight assists and six rebounds to go with her game-high scoring effort. Weimar finished with season highs of 25 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 8 of 12 from the field and 9 of 10 at the free-throw line. White, a freshman, posted career highs with 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists to record her first career double-double.
Romi Levy scored 12 points with five rebounds and three assists, while Tabitha Amanze added 11 points and seven rebounds, giving Virginia five players in double figures. The Cavaliers dominated the boards 54–37 and scored 22 second-chance points off 23 offensive rebounds.
Virginia led 14–13 after a sluggish opening quarter, despite shooting 6 of 20 from the field. The Cavaliers found their rhythm in the second quarter, shooting 10 of 15, and closed the half on a 19–4 run to take a 40–25 lead at the break. Johnson hit all three of her 3-point attempts in the period.
The Cavaliers’ lead grew to as many as 18 points late in the third quarter before Wake Forest closed the frame on an 8–0 run to trim the deficit to 61–51 entering the fourth. Virginia still led by 10 with seven minutes remaining, but the Demon Deacons surged with a 15–6 run to pull within one in the final two minutes.
Weimar made two free throws with 44 seconds left to give Virginia a 76–73 lead, but Milan Brown buried a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force overtime.
Virginia held a five-point edge in the first overtime, but Grace Oliver converted three free throws with 13 seconds remaining to send the game to a second extra period. After Wake Forest missed two free throws late in the second overtime, Weimar hit a tying basket to make it 84–84 and force a third overtime.
The Cavaliers took control in the final period, outscoring Wake Forest 14–8. Johnson found Levy on a backdoor cut for a three-point play that pushed the lead to six, and Johnson sealed the win by going 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the closing moments.
“I am just really proud of our resiliency,” Virginia coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said. “This is the ACC, and it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. We had to find a way to push through that, and we did.”