For the first time since the 2017-18 season, Virginia women’s basketball will play in the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers’ eight-year drought was broken as they received a spot in the First Four with an opportunity to play for a No. 10 seed.
Virginia will play Arizona State Thursday in Iowa City, Iowa. Should the Cavaliers advance, they will face No. 7 seed Georgia Saturday.
“Everybody wants to compete for national championships and being in that field is just a blessing,” Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said. “I'm just really happy for our players that we were able to do enough to get there.”
Prior to the bracket release Selection Sunday, ESPN analyst Charlie Creme said that Virginia was “certainly safe” in terms of making the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers, ranked No. 36 in the NET rankings, were among the last four teams to earn an NCAA Tournament spot.
A second-round exit in the ACC Tournament, combined with a home loss to UMBC and a resume with just one ranked win, endangered Virginia’s case to reach the NCAA Tournament — but the Cavaliers are officially in the bracket.
“I've never been to the last team called, so that was wild,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “We started getting a little tense in there, and we were kind of like, ‘okay, what's left, what's left.’ I was certain we were in, but when it started getting down to the last couple teams, I was getting a little nervous.”
Even though Virginia’s season was defined by swings between promise and struggle, the Cavaliers have remained competitive in a tough ACC conference schedule, notching three Quad 1 victories and posting a winning record of 11-7 in conference play and 19-11 overall.
On paper, this season was Virginia’s best chance in years to break its longstanding NCAA Tournament drought. The roster’s newfound depth and height — alongside junior guard Kymora Johnson’s star power — helped the Cavaliers record a winning conference record for the first time in Agugua-Hamilton’s tenure.
With a tournament berth now secured for the Cavaliers, the NCAA Tournament represents both a reward for progress and the next step in chasing a breakthrough season.
However, Virginia’s path to advance in the NCAA Tournament is arduous. The Cavaliers are in the Sacramento Regional Bracket with No. 2 Iowa — the host of the first two rounds in Iowa City — and No. 3 TCU as potential opponents on their side of the bracket.
“I truly believe that we can be really good, and I don't think that we're one and done in this tournament,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “I've been there before. The sky's the limit, so obviously you have to take it one game at a time. Our players cannot be thinking about anything but Arizona State.”
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