IOWA CITY, Iowa. – The 10th-seeded Virginia women’s basketball team (21-11) is set to take on second-seeded No. 7 Iowa (27-6) in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship on Monday (March 23). Tipoff from Carver-Hawkeye Arena is set for 2 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The winner of Monday’s second-round game will advance to take on either third-seeded TCU or sixth-seeded Washington in the Sweet Sixteen on Saturday (March 28). Tip time and television designation are still to be announced.
Broadcast Information
- Monday’s game will air on ESPN
- Virginia’s NCAA Tournament games will also be broadcast on WINA (98.9-FM/1070-AM), VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Spots mobile app
- Live statistics will be provided through StatBroadcast, which can be accessed on VirginiaSports.com.
For Openers
- Virginia has recorded multiple wins in an NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2000 season.
- The Cavaliers are looking to become the first double-digit seed to advance to a Sweet Sixteen since 2022
- In her NCAA Tournament debut, Kymora Johnson became the only UVA player this century to record 10+ pts, 10 reb, 5 ast in an NCAA Tournament game.
- She joins Dawn Staley (1989, 1991), and DeMya Walker (1997) as the only players to accomplish the feat.
- Johnson ranks ninth all-time at UVA with 1,679 points trailing Cathy Grimes (1,745) for eighth
- Virginia has recorded 21 wins in a season for the first time since the 2011-12 season
- UVA recorded 11 ACC wins in a season for the first time since 1999-00
- In their last outing, Kymora Johnson and Sa’Myah Smith became the first Cavalier Duo to score 20+ pts in an NCAA Tournament game since 1992 (Dawn Staley & Heather Burge)
- Virginia is averaging 74.9 points per game and limiting opposition to 64.3 ppg.
- The Cavaliers rank No. 2 in NCAA Division I with 6.5 blocks per game trailing only Kentucky (6.6).
- UVA has broken the program record for blocks in a season (208) for the second consecutive season.
- UVA ranks No. 24 in NCAA Division I and No. 2 in the ACC with 17.0 assists per game.
- Virginia is in its 53rd season of women’s basketball sporting a 1,014-575 (.638) record.
Look Hoos Dancing
- The Cavaliers are making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2018, as well as its first under head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton
- Virginia owns a 36-25 record in the NCAA Tournament
- UVA appeared in the tournament every year from 1984-2003, including a run of three consecutive Final Fours from 1990-92.
- The Cavaliers have won multiple games in an NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000 - their las appearance in the Sweet Sixteen.
- Seven Cavalier players have a combined 19 games of NCAA tournament experience with 11 combined wins ahead of the 2026 tournament.
- Agugua-Hamilton has made a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances as a head coach at Missouri State (2021, 2022) including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2021.
- In her first season at Missouri State, Agugua-Hamilton had her team positioned to make the NCAA Tournament before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Series with Iowa
- Virginia is 0-3 in the all-time series with Iowa
- The teams have matched up once in the NCAA Tournament when ninth-seeded Iowa recorded a 69-62 win over eighth-seeded Virginia in 2002.
- The last meeting between the teams came in 2015, an 85-73 Iowa victory at John Paul Jones Arena in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge.
Johnson’s Statistical Milestones
- This season, she has connected on 95 three-pointers to set a single-season program record.
- With her five three-pointer performance against Georgia (March 21), Johnson hit her 223rd career three-pointer and surpassed Tora Suber’s program record of 220.
- Johnson set a UVA single-game record with 10 three-pointers in a win over Winthrop (Dec. 20)
- She ranks No. 10 in NCAA Division I and leads the ACC with 3.0 three-pointers per game this season
- Johnson surpassed 1,600 career points in her 93rd career game in the regular season finale.
- She ranks 9th in program history with 1,679 points.
- Johnson became the fourth Division I player this century to reach at least 1,600 career points, and 500 career assists through 93 games joining Caitlin Clark (Iowa), Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon) and Dequesha McClanahan (Winthrop).
- She is one of three players in NCAA DI averaging at least 19 points and 5.5 assists per game
- In 2025, Johnson became one of just three players in program history to record a triple double (20pts, 11reb, 11ast at Pitt).
- The only other Cavaliers to accomplish the feat are Dawn Staley and Romi Levy.
Playoff Sa’Myah…
- In 2024-25, Sa’Myah Smith was sensational in the NCAA Tournament averaging 13.8 points and 10.25 rebounds while shooting the ball at a 63.9 percent clip
- She scored a career-high 21 points while pulling down 11 rebounds in a win over NC State in the Sweet 16 last season
- Smith has recorded a three of 20-pt performances in the NCAA tournament and four total games in double figures, for her career.
- Smith helped lead LSU to an elite eight appearance in 2025 starting all four games for the Tigers
- As a freshman in 2023, Smith came off the bench to help the Tigers claim the NCAA title
- In two NCAA tournaments at LSU, Smith averaged 6.7 pts and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting the ball at a 61.7 percent clip
Block Party
- Virginia leads NCAA Division I with 6.6 blocks per game and is on track to be the second highest of any ACC team in the last 20 seasons, behind only the 2020-21 Syracuse squad (7.04).
- The Cavaliers have blocked at least 10 shots in four different games this season (Georgia Tech, FSU, Howard, UMES, and Morgan St.)
- Nine different Cavaliers are up to double-figures in blocks on the season, the most of any team in NCAA Division I
- Tabitha Amanze leads Virginia with 44 blocks on the season.
Crash the Glass
- The Cavaliers are 12th in NCAA Division I and lead the ACC in rebounding margin with a mark of 9.3
- The highest average rebound differential by any Virginia team this century was +6.5 in 2008-09.
- Virginia ranks second in the ACC with 14.4 offensive rebounds per game
- Amanze leads the team with 83 offensive boards on the season while Weimar has pulled down 78.
Dropping Dimes
- Virginia ranks No. 25 in NCAA Division I and No. 2 in the ACC with 17.03 assists per game as a team.
- The Cavaliers have recorded 20+ assists on nine occasions this season and posted 18+ assists 15 times as a team.
- Kymora Johnson ranks No. 15 in Division I and leads the ACC averaging 5.9 assists per game.
- With 546 career assists, Johnson ranks fourth in program history. She trails Donna Holt (561) for third on the list
- She recorded a season-high 11 assists against FSU.
Elite Bench Production
- Caitlin Weimar has provided crucial production off the bench this season for UVA.
- Weimar ranks third among six total ACC players to record multiple 20-point games off the bench this season (25 pts at WF, 20 pts vs Pitt).
- Gabby White logged career highs in points (22), rebounds (12) and assists (6) off the bench in a triple-overtime victory at Wake Forest.
- The Cavaliers scored a season-high 56 points off the bench at Wake Forest.
- Among ACC players with 10 or less starts this season, Weimar ranks first with 1.3 blocks per game, and third with 2.4 offensive rebounds per game and second with 5.8 total rebounds per game.