Virginia women upend No. 20 Louisville, become first unranked ACC team to win in Cards' arena

Updated Feb. 25, 2024 3:10 p.m. ET

Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Camryn Taylor scored 9 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter, Kymora Johnson made three free throws in the last 14.6 seconds and Virginia made history with a 73-68 win over No. 20 Louisville on Sunday.

The Cavaliers are the first unranked Atlantic Coast Conference team to win in the KFC Yum! Center since it opened, ending a streak of 56 straight wins for the Cardinals.

Louisville, down 32-26 at halftime, scored 28 points in the third quarter to take a 54-47 lead into the fourth quarter. The Cardinals led 60-51 with 7 1/2 minutes to go when Jillian Brown hit a 3-pointer, starting a Virginia 15-1 run. Johnson capped it with a 3-pointer and layup that made it 66-61 with 2:57 remaining.

Jayda Curry pulled Louisville within 68-65 at 1:12. Both teams missed on their next possession before Paris Clark made two free throws for the Cavs with 23 seconds left. Johnson wrapped it up, making 3 of 4 at the line after Cardinal misses.

Johnson finished with 18 points, for Virginia (14-13, 6-10), which got its third Top 25 win. Clark had 12 points and Brown 11.

Nyla Harris had 17 points and nine rebounds for Louisville (22-7, 11-5). Sydney Taylor had 15 points and Kiki Jefforson added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Virginia used a 14-2 run in the second quarter to build a 32-26 halftime lead. The Cavaliers were down 21-16 when it started but they were up 30-23 after Brown hit a pair of 3-pointers and a layup.

Louisville had an 18-3 run in the third quarter, going up 50-42 on a Curry 3.

Louisville is home on Thursday against Florida State and closes the regular season on Sunday at No. 19 Notre Dame. Virginia goes to Duke on Thursday before playing host to No. 8 Virginia Tech in Sunday's finale.

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