Virginia guard Kymora Johnson (21) celebrates after making a three-point basket against Iowa in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament on Monday in Iowa City, Iowa.Charlie Neibergall/The Associated Press
Kymora Johnson scored 28 points as 10th-seeded Virginia became the first First Four to reach the regional semi-finals after an 83-75 double-overtime win over No. 2 seed Iowa on Monday in a women’s NCAA tournament second-round game.
The Cavaliers (22-11) won three games in five days, defeating Arizona State 57-55 in Thursday’s First Four game, following that with an 82-73 overtime win over Georgia in Saturday’s first-round game, and then the Hawkeyes (27-7), who were playing in front of a sellout home crowd of 14,332.
It’s the first time Virginia has advanced to the second weekend of the tournament since 2000. It’s also the first time a 10-seed has reached the Sweet 16 since Creighton did it in 2022. The Bluejays also beat Iowa in the second round that year to advance.
Iowa had chances to win the game in regulation and at the end of the first overtime. Chazadi Wright’s turnaround jumper with one second left in regulation missed, then the Hawkeyes missed two shots at the end of the first overtime, a three-pointer by Taylor Stremlow and a putback attempt by Ava Heiden.
Fort Worth Regional 1
NO. 1 UConn 98, NO. 9 Syracuse 45
STORRS, Conn. – Azzi Fudd scored 26 of her 34 points in the first half in her final game at Gampel Pavilion and UConn used a 31-0 run to roll to a win over Syracuse to advance to the women’s NCAA tournament ’s Sweet 16 for the 32nd season in a row.
Fudd tied her career highs in points and three-pointers and added five assists and four steals. Her eight three-pointers are one short of the NCAA tournament single-game record held by Purdue’s Courtney Moses, UConn’s Kia Nurse and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.
Sarah Strong had 18 points and nine rebounds as UConn (36-0) won its 52nd consecutive game. Blanca Quinonez added 18 points for UConn, which led 33-8 after one quarter and 65-12 at halftime as the Huskies advance to play North Carolina in the Fort Worth 1 regional semi-final on Friday.
Uche Izoje scored 12 points and Sophie Burrows had 10 for ninth-seeded Syracuse (24-9), which topped Iowa State in the first round.
Hannah Hidalgo (3) of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish runs into Kennedy Cambridge (3) of the Ohio State Buckeyes during their second round NCAA women's basketball tournament game at Jerome Schottenstein Center on Monday in Columbus, Ohio.Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
No. 6 Notre Dame 83, No. 3 Ohio State 73
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Hannah Hidalgo put together another dominant performance with 26 points, 13 rebounds and eight steals as Notre Dame advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 15th straight time with a victory over Ohio State.
It is the second time in the second-team AP All-American’s career she has had at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals in a game. Hidalgo had her eighth double-double of the season and the 16th of the junior’s career.
Fellow AP All-America pick Jaloni Cambridge tied a career high with 41 points for Ohio State (27-8), the second-most points by a Buckeye player in an NCAA tournament game.
Ohio State becomes the first team in women’s tournament history to be eliminated three straight years at home.
Vanessa de Jesus scored 15 points and Cassandre Prosper 13 for the Fighting Irish (24-10), who have won 11 of their last 13.
Fort Worth Regional 3
No. 3 Louisville 69, No. 6 Alabama 68
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Elif Istanbulluoglu had 18 points and a key steal with 1:42 remaining that led to Reyna Scott’s one-handed jumper as the shot clock expired, Imari Berry added two free throws with 8.2 seconds left and Louisville held off Alabama.
The Cardinals (29-7) reached their first Sweet 16 since 2023 despite several missed late free throws. Istanbulluoglu made 1 of 2 foul shots and Scott missed both with 2.3 seconds to go to give the Crimson Tide one last chance for a desperation basket.
Diana Collins grabbed the rebound and launched a shot from midcourt that bounced off the backboard, sending Louisville to a matchup Saturday against No. 2 seed Michigan in the Fort Worth 3 regional. The Cardinals will make their 13th overall appearance in the Sweet 16.
Tajianna Roberts also scored 18 points while Laura Ziegler added 12 for Louisville, which won despite making just 8 of 16 from the foul line and 7 of 26 from three-point range.
No. 5 Kentucky 74, No. 4 West Virginia 73
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Teonni Key scored 19 points, Clara Strack had 18 points and 15 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the season and Kentucky nearly gave up a big lead and held on to beat West Virginia to advance to the NCAA women’s Sweet 16 for the first time in a decade.
No. 5 seed Kentucky (25-10) will meet top-seeded and Southeastern Conference rival Texas on Saturday in Fort Worth, Tex. Kentucky will make its seventh trip to the regional semi-finals in program history and its first since 2016.
No. 4 seed West Virginia (28-7) nearly stormed back from a double-digit deficit. Sydney Shaw scored 11 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter and two Jordan Harrison free throws with 1:20 left brought the Mountaineers within 72-71. But West Virginia never retook the lead.
Kierra Wheeler added 16 points for West Virginia.