Never-Say-Die Hoos Making March Memories

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa — From the NCAA tournament bubble to the Sweet Sixteen: It’s been a wild postseason ride for the University of Virginia women’s basketball team, and it’s not over yet.

After a triumphant stay in the Midwest, where they won three games in five days, the Cavaliers are headed to the West Coast. No. 10 seed Virginia (22-11) will meet No. 3 seed TCU (31-5) in the NCAA tournament’s third round Saturday in Sacramento, Calif.

UVA is the first team to advance from the First Four to the Sweet Sixteen.

“It means everything,” junior guard Kymora Johnson said Monday afternoon after Virginia upended No. 2 seed Iowa 83-75 in double overtime at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “This is what you dream of as a kid.”

SWEET 1️⃣6️⃣!!!!!!!#GoHoos 🔸⚔️🔹 #GNSL pic.twitter.com/gwa1fC5qvB

— Virginia Women's Basketball (@UVAWomensHoops) March 23, 2026

This will be the Wahoos’ first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2000. That UVA team, coached by Debbie Ryan, entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 4 seed. This Virginia team was awarded a No. 10 seed but had to open with a First Four game against Arizona State in Iowa City.

The Hoos edged the Sun Devils 57-55 Thursday night to advance to a first-round meeting with No. 7 seed Georgia. That was Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, where Virginia erased an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter and went on to defeat the Bulldogs 82-73 in overtime.

That set up a second-round showdown with Iowa, whose home-court advantage might be unsurpassed in the women’s game. Nearly every seat in 14,998-seat Carver-Hawkeye Arena was filled Friday afternoon, and nearly every one of those fans was rooting for the home team.

“That was insane,” Johnson said.

If the fans’ fervor impressed the Cavaliers, it didn’t faze them. Neither did the nine-point lead the Hawkeyes (27-7) took into the fourth quarter.

“No matter what they threw at us, we just did not get rattled,” said Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, who’s in her fourth year as Virginia’s head coach.

Graduate student Romi Levy started the Cavaliers’ comeback with two field goals early in the fourth quarter. After Iowa stretched its lead back to nine, it was Paris Clark's turn. The senior guard scored eight straight points.

“I was just trying to do whatever to win, to help my team,” Clark said. “It's win or go home, it's March, and like we say all the time, we know what we're capable of, we know what we can do.”

Agugua-Hamilton said: “You need your seniors to step up. They don't want this to be over. From the time we played Arizona State, we've been talking about one more, just fighting for one more. So one more moment, one more memory, one more practice, one more game, one more team activity, whatever it is. That's what they were playing with. They were just fighting for one more. [Iowa] started to gap it a little bit, and Paris was like, ‘No, not ready to be done,’ and she stepped up.”

The Hawkeyes grew shakier as the game went on. Johnson’s 3-pointer made it 57-57, and that was still the score when the fourth quarter ended 2:09 later.

Johnson scored the final points of the first overtime period too, on a drive that made it 65-65 with 14.7 seconds to play. In the second OT, the Hoos finally separated from the Hawkeyes and won going away.

“We just believed that we were going to win this game before it even started,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “Every time they punched, we punched back, stayed poised. We had so many people hit big shots.”

Johnson finished with a game-high 28 points, and Clark added 20. Levy chipped 13 points, and center Caitlin Weimar added 12 in 29-plus minutes off the bench. Forward Sa’Myah Smith pulled down 10 rebounds for Virginia.

Clark spent her freshman season at Arizona before transferring to UVA. She arrived on Grounds around the same time that Johnson, a local phenom, did in 2023.

“This is a really special moment for us,” Clark said, “just being here all these three years, coming to Virginia, seeing the vision of Coach Mox. It's hard to put into words, but I'm so proud of this group, I'm proud of our coaching staff, just the trust that we have in each other and this program. It just means everything to finally see it comes into place.”

For Agugua-Hamilton, this will be her second trip to the Sweet Sixteen as a head coach. Her first was in 2021-22, with Missouri State. She took the job at UVA after that season and began rebuilding a program that had finished 5-22 in 2021-22.

Agugua-Hamilton grew up in Northern Virginia, and she was well aware of UVA’s proud history in women’s basketball. Ryan, who traveled to Iowa City with the team, guided Virginia to three Final Fours, and the program’s alumni include such luminaries as Dawn Staley, Wendy Palmer and Tammi Reiss.

“The list goes on and on,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “I knew where this program has been, and I always remembered wanting to play at Virginia, and I just wanted to be a part of bringing it back to the glory days ... I knew it was going to be a large task, and it was no small feat. But at the same time, I knew we were going to get it done. I didn't know when, but I just keep all my trust and faith in the Lord, and I'm just blessed to be a part of leading these young women to help them reach their dreams and goals and leave a legacy.”

IKTR‼️ Hoos are headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000. #MarchMadness x 🎥 ESPN / @UVAWomensHoops pic.twitter.com/KC0FKXm0IN

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 23, 2026

Agugua-Hamilton’s first team at Virginia finished 15-15. Her second went 16-16 and her third 17-15. After the coaching staff restocked the roster with such talented transfers as Levy, Weimar, Smith and Tabitha Amanze, the Cavaliers entered this season with hopes of competing for the ACC title. Five months later, they’re where they expected to be all along, but there were struggles along the way.

After upsetting then-No. 8 Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center, UVA dropped its final two  regular-season games. Then came the ACC tournament, where the Hoos went one-and-done.

On the NCAA tournament selection show, 66 other teams heard their names called before the Virginia-Arizona State match-up was announced to complete the field.

Even so, Johnson said, the Cavaliers went into NCAAs with considerable optimism.

“We’re a confident team, and I think we believe in all the work that we've put in,” she said. “Not a lot of people have. They've written us off. We came into March trying to show what Virginia is about.”

The Hoos made a statement in Iowa City, and they headed home Monday night excited about what the future holds for them. For their head coach, it’s been an unforgettable ride.

“As a competitor, you always want to win,” Agugua-Hamilton said, “but as a mentor and as someone that wants to continue to help and equip our young women for life after basketball, it means a lot for me to see them be so resilient and persevere through so much adversity, because we know life is going to throw so many things at them.

“The fact we didn't fold this season even when we had ups and downs, even the way we ended the regular season, things like that, that's growth, and that's going to help them when this ball stops bouncing. I'm proud of everything. I'm proud of our program. I'm proud of their growth. I'm proud of winning. I'm proud of just the resiliency ... I love seeing them with so much joy on their faces.”

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