Virginia Upsets Iowa in 2OT, Reaches Sweet 16 as Double-Digit Seed
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Kymora Johnson scored 28 points as 10th-seeded Virginia became the first First Four team to reach the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA tournament, stunning No. 2 seed Iowa 83-75 in double overtime on Monday.
The Cavaliers (22-11) completed a grueling five-day stretch with their third consecutive tournament victory, following a 57-55 win over Arizona State in the First Four and an 82-73 overtime triumph against Georgia in the first round. Virginia is the first double-digit seed to reach the Sweet 16 since Creighton and South Dakota both did so in 2022, and the eighth 10-seed to reach that stage all-time.
Iowa (27-7) appeared poised for a comfortable victory after dominating the third quarter to build a nine-point lead entering the fourth. However, Virginia mounted a furious comeback, forcing the game into overtime. A controversial flagrant foul call against Virginia with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first overtime proved pivotal. Iowa’s Chit-Chat Wright made only one of two free throws awarded on the flagrant, and then missed another free throw on the ensuing possession, giving Virginia a chance to tie the game, which Kymora Johnson capitalized on. A potential game-winning three-pointer by Iowa’s Taylor Stremlow rimmed out as time expired.
The second overtime saw Virginia pull away, securing a comfortable victory. Johnson, who played all 50 minutes, led all scorers with 28 points, while Paris Clark added 20 points, seven rebounds, and four assists for the Cavaliers.
Virginia’s improbable run began with a shaky regular season, finishing 6-8 in conference play and suffering a second-round exit in the ACC Tournament against Clemson. That left the Cavaliers squarely on the bubble, but the selection committee ultimately granted them a First Four berth based on wins over Louisville and Notre Dame. As ESPN reported, the Cavaliers have continued to defy expectations, winning each game by a narrow margin.
The Cavaliers are the fifth team to win multiple overtime games in the same NCAA Tournament and the first to achieve that feat in both the first and second rounds. Their coach, Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, emphasized the team’s resilience. “We were just so resilient in this game,” she said, according to ESPN. “Iowa is a really great team. They’re a 2-seed for a reason. No matter what they threw at us, we just did not acquire rattled.”
Iowa’s defeat marks the second consecutive year the Hawkeyes have been eliminated before the Sweet 16. A key factor in their loss was their poor shooting performance. They shot just 14.3% from three-point range over their two tournament games, a significant drop from their regular season average of 36.2%, as CBS Sports detailed. Chit-Chat Wright, Iowa’s leading three-point shooter, went 4 of 13 from behind the arc in the two games, while the rest of the team combined to shoot 2 of 29.
Virginia will now face TCU in Sacramento on Saturday, with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line. The Cavaliers haven’t reached the Elite Eight since 1996, and the outcome of that game remains to be seen.