Virginia women’s basketball had the upset of the tournament on Monday over No. 2 seed Iowa.
But it wasn’t just the players on the court that powered the Cavaliers to the win. It was the donors, too.
One of whom is Alexis Ohanian. The American entrepreneur, known for co-founding Reddit, told Front Office Sports back in October that he is a major donor of the program.
“I called up, I said ‘Hey, I want to make UVA a contender, let me know what to do,’” Ohanian, who is married to Serena Williams, said. “So I’m very grateful to be a big donor there to the women’s basketball program.”
The No. 10 seed Cavaliers defeated the Hawkeyes 83-75 Monday in double overtime, sending Iowa home in the second round for the second straight year.
Virginia leading scorer Kymora Johnson (19.5 points per game) led the way with 28 points, while Paris Clark added 20. Iowa’s 25-11 third-quarter edge put UVA in a hole entering the fourth, but the Cavaliers fought back — an eight-point double overtime lead handed them the victory.
The upset is especially surprising considering the criticism women’s college basketball has received in recent years about the lack of parity in the sport. No. 1 overall seed UConn bullying Syracuse to a 53-point win Monday is one example. The Huskies at one point embarked on a 31-0 run and led 65-12 at halftime.
UConn has also won seven of the last 16 tournaments and looks to be on its way to another, and South Carolina has won two of the last four.
UVA’s win marked the first time a First Four team advanced to the Sweet 16 in women’s basketball history.
With donors like Ohanian beginning to fund programs, maybe that gap is truly getting smaller.
The Cavaliers entered the NCAA Tournament at 19-11 in Amaka Agugua-Hamilton’s fourth season, a considerable improvement from three prior mediocre campaigns. They narrowly beat Arizona State in the First Four and defeated No. 7 seed Georgia in overtime to advance to face Iowa.
Now, Virginia will face No. 3 seed TCU in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, its first time making it that far since the 1999-2000 season.
Tabitha Amanze (Penn), Romi Levy (South Florida), Sa’Myah Smith (LSU), Caitlin Weimar (Boston U.) and Adean Ring (Central Florida) have all had impacts this season after transferring into Virginia this past year.
A win would send UVA to its first Elite 8 in program history, where it would likely face No. 1 seed South Carolina.
And that’s no coincidence. Clearly Ohanian’s influence has made a difference.
