IOWA CITY, Iowa – Fans arriving early for Iowa women’s basketball’s first round NCAA Tournament game against Fairleigh Dickinson witnessed a thrilling overtime contest between seventh-seeded Georgia and 10th-seeded Virginia. The Cavaliers prevailed in what was the first upset of the women’s bracket with a 82-73 victory at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Third-year guard Kymora Johnson led the Cavaliers with 28 points, followed by forward Sa’Myah Smith with 23 and Romi Levy with 14. Virginia improved to 21-11 overall and posted its second victory of the tournament, also topping Arizona State in the first four on March 18.
“When you get a game under your belt, you relax, understand we belong here,” Virginia head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said. “And then we played more free.”
Smith, a junior from Texarkana, Texas, scored five points on 2-of-2 shooting in the overtime period despite going scoreless the entire second half.
“I didn’t want to lose,” Smith said postgame. “This team is not done yet.”
The Cavaliers took advantage of a fourth foul on Georgia’s Mia Woolfolk, who finished with a team-high 27 points. After Woolfolk exited the game, Virginia scored the final seven points of the game.
The Cavaliers shot 52 percent from the floor and 42 percent from long range, connecting on 10 triples. Smith added 11 rebounds as Virginia held an 11-point advantage in second chance points.
Tied at 71 with less than 30 seconds remaining, the Bulldogs had one possession to win the game in regulation, but missed a short jumper. A jump ball call allowed Georgia to run a baseline out-of-bounds play with 0.7 seconds remaining, but Woolfolk’s attempt just below the elbow hit off the front iron.
Virginia scored 16 points off 11 Georgia turnovers. Agugua-Hamilton explained how Virginia varied between man-to-man and zone defense, shifting back to man down the stretch out of a sense of urgency.
“If people are shooting you out of the zone, you’ve got to be able to make an adjustment,” she said.
Agugua-Johnson arrived in Charlottesville following four consecutive losing seasons. Virginia improved in win total very year under her tenure and after making the Big Dance for the first time since 2018, eyes a Sweet 16 appearance.