CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW)-  Virginia women’s basketball suffered its first ACC loss of the season and saw its seven-game winning streak snapped, in a 79-60 loss to visiting Syracuse on Sunday at John Paul Jones Arena.
Laila Phelia torched the Cavaliers for career-high 38 points and her backcourt mate, Sophie Burrows, added 21 for the Orange, who won for the third time in their last four games.
Virginia led 34-28 at the half but Syracuse used a dominant second-half performance, outscoring the Cavaliers 51-26 after the break.
Kymora Johnson led UVA with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. Caitlin Weimar had another strong game off the bench, scoring 15 points, and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. Tabitha Amanze added nine points and five rebounds, and Romi Levy finished with eight points and four rebounds.
As a team, the Hoos shot 42% from the floor, and out-rebounded the Orange 37-29.
The game began to flip with a flagrant foul on Johnson midway through the third quarter. Syracuse went on an 8-0 run to pull out to a 10-point lead with three minutes left in the third. Phelia’s stellar performance kept the Orange in the game until the end.
Burrows went 7-8 from 3-point range. Much-vaunted center Uche Izojje added seven rebounds and nine points.
The Orange’s fourth quarter performance spurred them on.  It was a 15-2 run over the last four minutes to carry the visitors over the line.  They went 60% from 3-point range and 48% from the floor compared to Virginia’s 19% and 42% respectively.