For the first time since 2010, the Virginia women’s basketball team will appear in the NCAA Tournament. This is also the first time that the Cavaliers (18-3, 10-6 ACC) have been selected for the NCAA Tournament under Coach Joanne Boyle.
This year, the Cavaliers finished the season No. 7 in the conference and advanced it to the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament, where they fell to No. 5 team in the nation — Notre Dame. The 83-47 loss to the Fighting Irish (29-3, 15-1) March 2 was the most recent game for the Cavaliers.
With plenty of time to refocus and recover from that loss, Virginia now sets its sights on making a run for the program’s first ever national championship.
The No.10-seeded Cavaliers will take on No.7-seeded California in the first round Friday. Should they advance, the Cavaliers would likely meet the No.7-ranked team in the nation, South Carolina. Also in Virginia’s portion of the bracket is Connecticut, who is the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed.
Offensively, Virginia is led by sophomore guard Dominique Toussaint, who received an honorable mention in All-ACC voting. Toussaint averages 11.3 points and 3.7 assists per game. Senior guard Alilyah Huland El, who became the 33rd player in program history to reach 1,000 points earlier in the season, has also consistently put up numbers for Virginia with an average of 10.1 points per game. On the defensive front, the Cavaliers are keeping teams to an average of 61 points per game and forcing opponents to shoot 31.1 percent from three.
Virginia’s matchup against the Golden Bears (21-10, 11-7 PAC 12) is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. tip-off Friday at Columbia, SC.
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