CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (CVILLE RIGHT NOW)– Needing another victory to climb the ACC standings and bolster its NCAA tournament resume, Virginia women’s basketball triumphed over Notre Dame 81-70 on Sunday.

After being outscored 18-17 in the first quarter, the Hoos outscored the Irish by nine in the second and eleven in the third.  Three Cavaliers reached double figures in the game — Kymora Johnson (27), Paris Clark (15) and Tabitha Amanze (14). Despite a tough shooting day, Sa’Myah Smith led the Hoos on the boards with nine rebounds while scoring four points.

Hannah Hidalgo, the Irish’s leading scorer entering Saturday averaging 24.9 points per game, led Notre Dame with a team-leading 24 points and eight assists while matching Malaya Cowles with a team-leading seven rebounds.  Iyana Moore led the game in 3-point makes with five on 10 attempts. She finished with 17 total points for the Irish.

The Hoos dictated the flow of the game throughout, forcing 19 total turnovers from the Irish.

Despite a three-minute scoring drought in the fourth quarter that saw Notre Dame on an 8-0 run, Virginia locked down on defense and maintained its double digit advantage, a stark contrast to the first half, which saw more than ten lead changes.

At halftime, former UVA head coach Debby Ryan was honored in a ceremony in which a banner was raised to John Paul Jones Arena’s rafters in her honor. Ryan spent 34 seasons at the helm of the Hoos from 1977-2011, posting a 739-324 all-time record. The 11-time ACC Coach of the Year and 1991 Naismith and WSBWA National Coach of the Year also led the Cavaliers to three straight Final Four appearances, three ACC Championships, 11 ACC Regular-Season Championships and 24 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Up next, Virginia will head out west to face Cal on Thursday at 1o p.m. local time before facing Stanford on Sunday at 2 p.m. After that, the Hoos will have just three regular season games remaining before the ACC Tournament begins on March 4.