The University of Virginia Women’s Basketball team competed in their first NCAA Sweet 16 tournament game since 2000, in a matchup against Texas Christian University. After an inconsistent season, a 22–12 win-loss record, and barely making the tournament, they knocked off higher ranked teams one by one in March Madness.
They began the tournament in a “First Four” play-in game against Arizona State, where both teams were competing for a spot in the round of 64 as a 10th seed. Virginia barely scraped by with a 57-55 win. In the round of 64, Virginia faced off against Georgia, a seven seed. They finished strong in overtime, defeating the Bulldogs by a nine point winning margin. Next, Virginia was matched up with two seed, University of Iowa. Despite trailing by as much as nine points in the fourth quarter, Virginia upset Iowa 83-75 in a shocking double overtime thanks to local star Kymora Johnson and Paris Clark’s remarkable 20 points performances. Unfortunately, Virginia’s run came to an end after being beaten by third seed Texas Christian University in the Sweet 16.
Although their National Championship dream was squashed, they made history as the first ever women’s NCAA basketball team who competed in one of the “First Four” play-in games to reach the Sweet 16. The NCAA first added play-in games to the women’s tournament back in 2022.
One of the major contributors to Virginia’s recent success was Head Coach, Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, better known as Coach Mox who was hired in 2022. The Hoos returned home to unexpected news, the firing of Coach Mox a year before her contract expired. According to USA Today, “Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton was the subject of an internal investigation and there were allegations of staff mistreatment.” In response to Coach Mox not returning next season, players, many of whom were in the starting lineup -Kymora Johnson, Olivia McGhee, Sa’Myah Smith, Gabby White, and Breona Hurd- have all announced their entrance into the transfer portal. The most notable loss is Kymora Johnson, an all ACC guard and Charlottesville native, who originally came to Virginia primarily due to Coach Cox.
Virginia Athletic Director, Carla Williams, named Aaron Roussell, former Richmond Spiders women’s basketball coach, the new head coach on April 7th, marking yet another new era in UVA women’s basketball.
