For the first time since 2000, the Virginia Cavaliers women’s basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16.
Led by another remarkable performance from Kymora Johnson and some timely buckets by Paris Clark, the tenth-seeded ’Hoos stunned the second-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes, 83-75 in double-overtime, in front of their sold-out home crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
With its
upset victory, Virginia has become the first women’s team to reach the Sweet 16 after starting in the First Four and the first double-digit seed to advance to the Sweet 16 since 2022.
As the ’Hoos take the women’s college basketball world by storm, here are four takeaways from the latest triumph by the Cardiac Cavaliers:
It takes a village
Magical March runs are built by unlikely heroes, and the ’Hoos have already seen their fair share of tournament legends step up during their three-game winning-streak in Iowa City.
Beginning with Caitlin Weimer’s monster 11-point, 12-rebound double-double and Romi Levy’s clutch 3-point shooting in the First Four win over Arizona State, a new ’Hoo has delivered a signature performance in each game thus far in the NCAA Tournament.
After Sa’Myah Smith poured in a career-high 23 points against Georgia in the Round of 64, it was Paris Clark’s turn to take on the secondary scoring role against the Hawkeyes. The senior guard from the Bronx, N.Y., finished her afternoon with 20 points (her second-highest output of the season), including a personal 8-0 run to cut Iowa’s nine-point fourth-quarter lead down to one with 6:29 to play.
On top of her scoring production, Clark grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists in 42 minutes of hard-nosed, high-energy basketball. A former five-star recruit and high school McDonald’s All-American, Clark has struggled with consistency during her three-year stint in Charlottesville. The effort, however, is never lacking, and when she’s confidently in attack mode, Clark is a gifted three-level scorer capable of taking over a game the way she did on Monday afternoon.
With Clark operating at her best, the ’Hoos improved to 4-1 this season in overtime contests, a testament to the resiliency of Coach Mox’s squad.
Kymora Johnson is putting together an all-time tournament run
With players like Clark, Smith, and Weimer stepping up, Kymora Johnson has been afforded the space to deliver an all-time NCAA Tournament performance. No matter how deep this Cavaliers’ run ends up going, the two-time First-Team All-ACC point guard from Charlottesville has already cemented her name in the history books with one of the clutchest March stretches of all time.
Just take a look at what Johnson accomplished in Iowa City this weekend:
- Delivered a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double against Arizona State in the First Four and drained a go-ahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds to play in the fourth quarter. Johnson became the first Virginia player with at least 15 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in an NCAA tournament game this century.
- Scored 28 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and racked up six assists in the Round of 64 against Georgia. Johnson also knocked down five 3-pointers, and her 28 points were the sixth-most by a ’Hoo in an NCAA Tournament game.
- Played all 50 minutes, scored 14 points in OT/2OT, and finished with 28 points and four assists in the Round of 32 upset win over Iowa. Johnson drained a game-tying 3-pointer with 2:11 remaining in the fourth quarter (the final points for either team in regulation), converted a game-tying driving layup with 14.7 seconds left in OT (the last points scored for either team in OT), and came up with a key steal and coast-to-coast layup to put UVA up 74-67 with 2:20 remaining in 2OT.
For those keeping track at home, that’s three game-tying or go-ahead buckets in the final 2:30 of the fourth quarter or overtime while averaging 24.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game so far in the NCAA Tournament. Johnson also became just the fourth Cavalier to score 25 or more points in multiple NCAA Tournament games (joining Dawn Staley, Heather Burge, Tora Suber, and Monica Wright).
That’s a resume that won’t soon be forgotten. On a court that Caitlyn Clark made famous, Johnson has added her name to the list of March Madness superstars.
Coach Mox is finally seeing the fruits of her rebuild
The year before Coach Mox arrived in Charlottesville, Virginia finished 5-22 overall and 2-14 in ACC play. But since she took over, the ’Hoos have finished .500 or above in four consecutive seasons, earned a WBIT bid in 2024, returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, and now have punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 26 years.
There have been bumps in the road, no doubt. Postseason success had alluded Coach Mox’s Virginia teams prior to this season, and non-conference no-shows against mid-majors (like this season’s loss to UMBC) have hampered her squads’ resumes.
But Coach Mox has unequivocally brought new life to the women’s basketball program, one whose storied history had been left too far behind. And now, the ’Hoos have delivered the tangible success that their coach truly deserved.
This is the second time Coach Mox has reached the Sweet Sixteen as a head coach (2021 at Missouri State), as she continues to erase the postseason narratives that had previously hung over her at Virginia.
Next up: TCU
Monday marked Virginia’s first-ever win over a top-four seed when seeded below a three itself, and the ’Hoos will have the chance to do it again against third-seeded TCU on Saturday night.
The Horned Frogs blew past 14-seed UC San Diego in the first round but struggled against sixth-seeded Washington in the Round of 32, needing overtime to get the job done in a low-scoring, 62-59 affair.
It will take another A+ performance for the ’Hoos to keep rolling, but Virginia will get the benefit of a truly neutral court in Sacramento, California. Tip-off at the Golden 1 Center is scheduled for 7:30 PM EST, with coverage on ESPN.
