A First Four team has never advanced to the Sweet 16 in the history of the women’s NCAA Tournament — that is, until Virginia did it Monday.
The 10-seed Cavaliers (22-11, 11-7 ACC), in a historic and unprecedented upset, took down the two-seed Iowa (27-7, 15-3 Big Ten) 83-75 on its home floor in Iowa City, Iowa. It took two overtimes. It took 50 minutes of physical, aggressive basketball in an arena without air conditioning. Carver-Hawkeye Arena featured 15,000 fans, almost all of them wearing black and gold, screaming. They exited in silence postgame.
Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton took a moment to praise God. She said postgame that she has a cold — it was hard to tell which sniffles came from sickness and which from tears of joy.
Virginia’s band of heroes smiled. Aching, bloodied and exhausted, they celebrated with vigor. This did not look like the energy one would expect for a plucky darling of the NCAA Tournament that had to win three games in five days.
“Playing three games, you want to be playing in March, so [feeling tired] doesn't matter,” Agugua-Hamilton said Sunday. “If we had to play every day, we would. They're not tired. I tell them that all the time. I say that in the summertime or even in preseason. Come on, you're not tired. Nobody's tired in March, that's for sure.”
In the game, junior guard Kymora Johnson played all 50 minutes — battling with pesky graduate guard Kylie Feuerbach, one of the nation’s best on-ball defenders. The Big Ten All-Defensive Team member hounded Johnson all afternoon, but the Cavalier star still finished with a game-leading 28 points.
From the game’s onset — the beginning of a marathon which bled into nearly half of the following Round of 32 game despite starting well ahead of time — Virginia came out with intense aggression and focus. Johnson started the game by sprinting ahead for a layup before drawing a foul and sinking both free-throw attempts.
Agugua-Hamilton’s gameplan was evident — pursue every play with urgency, force Iowa into transition defense and counter star sophomore forward Ava Heiden. Heiden, with First Team All-Big Ten honors, is the engine of the Hawkeye offense. But early on, the Cavaliers forced her into two fouls and an uncharacteristic travel.
After 10 minutes of play, the hosts had to sweat a little in a 13-13 tie with the visitors in orange and blue. Then Virginia started to pull ahead. Graduate forward Caitlin Weimar began to pull down some offensive rebounds, and Agugua-Hamilton adjusted to Iowa’s stingy defense by making some personnel shifts.
Freshman guard Gabby White checked in as the primary ball-handler, which allowed the speedy Johnson to operate off-ball and find more manageable shots. Agugua-Hamilton also put both of her giant forwards — senior Tabitha Amanze and sophomore Adeang Ring — on the court at the same time to counter Heiden, which worked. Heiden only scored six points in the first half.
Agugua-Hamilton was putting on a coaching masterclass, which, combined with a triumphant effort from the Cavaliers, led to a 28-23 halftime lead.
Virginia kept the good times rolling early in the third quarter as graduate guard Romi Levy intercepted a pass and took it back for a layup. The Cavaliers had momentum. Then the Hawkeyes aggressively snatched it back. Iowa went on a 7-0 run that ultimately became an 18-4 run. Virginia found itself down 48-39 entering what was supposed to be the final 10 minutes of play.
Many times this season, the Cavaliers have run out of gas in the fourth quarter. The last 10 minutes have been an Achilles’ heel for Virginia. In order to keep their season alive, the Cavaliers had to change the narrative and author a final push in the face of pain and exhaustion.
Enter, with a metaphorical cape, senior guard Paris Clark.
Clark created her own 8-0 run with three straight shots, then her co-star Johnson tied the game at 57-57 with just over two minutes left in regulation. Late in the game, a discrepancy became increasingly relevant. Even though Iowa is a top-10 team, it features nine underclassmen. Meanwhile, Virginia is full of battle-tested upperclassmen. Experience is paramount in the postseason.
The Hawkeyes had the basketball out of a timeout with 10.4 seconds left in a tied game. Sophomore guard Chazadi “Chit-Chat” Wright dribbled in the face of Levy, who extended her long arms into the air — making it difficult for Wright to hit the game-winner. Wright missed.
Overtime.
For the Cavaliers, this was the second overtime game in just three days. And the tide began to turn on Virginia as Amanze fouled out — but a cinematic twist occurred. The Hawkeye who drew the foul, senior forward Hannah Stuelke, committed a flagrant foul just after she was fouled.
Stuelke elbowed Amanze in the nose — drawing blood. Stuelke still got to take her two free throws. She missed both. But after, Virginia got two free throws of its own and an additional possession. Agugua-Hamilton chose Johnson to attempt the free shots, and she made both to tie the game at 59-59.
Then, another twist swung the momentum firmly back to Iowa. When corralling a rebound, junior forward Sa’Myah Smith hit Stuelke on the neck. Both coaches gathered with officials to discuss the play. When they came to a conclusion, Agugua-Hamilton lightly rolled her eyes, frowned and returned to her bench. The whole arena knew it — a game-changing call had been made. The Hawkeyes were set to benefit from a flagrant foul upgrade of their own.
Coach Jan Jensen picked Wright to shoot the free throws. She made the first but missed the second, leaving a pivotal point off the scoreboard. On the ensuing possession, Levy quickly fouled Wright with 18 seconds left in overtime. Wright once again split the free throws, leaving just a two-point Hawkeye lead.
Agugua-Hamilton called timeout. The season was on the line.
Johnson got the ball and offered a tough floater — which she sank to tie the game at 65. But Iowa still had one last chance.
The Hawkeyes attempted a three-point shot, which fell in and out, then the star Heiden tried a putback shot from midrange. She missed.
Overtime — round two, for the ninth time in NCAA Tournament history.
Once again, a grueling battle occurred on the hardwood. Smith got decked trying to secure the tip-off, and she lay on the ground for several minutes. The injury concern forced her to the bench for a few minutes.
Later on, Clark’s heroics continued as she grabbed a Cavalier miss and put it back up for an and-one. She nailed the free throw, and Virginia pulled ahead 70–67 with three and a half minutes to go. Then Smith returned, refusing to watch her collegiate career end.
One minute later, the Cavaliers were feeling the pressure. Two seconds remained on the shot clock. Johnson had to heave a prayer from three-point land — and she was fouled on the shot. A long-distance shot from the logo would probably have missed, but Wright’s foul gave Virginia a trio of free-throw attempts.
Then, Johnson intercepted a pass and downed a layup to take a 72-67 lead that the Cavaliers never relinquished. The Hawkeyes fought back admirably, but when Heiden and Feuerbach fouled out, there was no hope of a comeback.
Monday afternoon, hope belonged to the resilient women in orange and blue.
“As a competitor, you always want to win,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “But as a mentor and as someone that wants to continue to help and equip our young women for life after basketball it means a lot for me to see them be so resilient and persevere through so much adversity, because we all know life is going to throw so many things at them, and so the fact that we didn't fold this season, even when we had ups and downs, even the way that we ended the regular season … that's growth.”
Agugua-Hamilton continued on, echoing the cheers of joy from the Virginia faithful.
“I'm proud of everything,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “I'm proud of our program. I'm proud of their growth. I'm proud of winning. I'm proud of the resiliency. It's not really about me. I do it to honor God. I do it to fulfill the purpose that he's put me here for, but also for those young women. I mean, I just, I love seeing them with so much joy on their faces. That's really why I do this.”
Agugua-Hamilton was joined postgame by Johnson and Clark, program cornerstones who have each spent three seasons together. Agugua-Hamilton and Johnson shared a moment together as they answered questions from the media.
Johnson, the Charlottesville native, had led her hometown Cavaliers to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2000. This team made history, which was all the sweeter after decades of struggle.
“I knew this is where I was destined to be,” Johnson said. “I followed my heart, like I said earlier, and it led me to Virginia. I live five minutes from Grounds, and I wouldn't want it any other way. [Coach and I] have a great relationship, and not a lot of players could say they have such a good relationship with their coach. So I'm really, really blessed to be in this position.”
Johnson turned to Agugua-Hamilton and said, “Love you.” Agugua-Hamilton said “Love you” back.
The Cavaliers’ Cinderella run continues — one more game with the senior class that has been pivotal to the growth of the program.
Virginia will face the three-seed TCU in Sacramento, Calif., Friday for the chance to advance to the Elite Eight. But regardless of future opportunities, the 2025-26 Cavaliers have firmly established themselves as one of the best teams in program history.
That counts for a lot. And the country knows it.
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