Takeaways as Virginia upsets Iowa women's basketball, denies Sweet 16

A terrific Iowa women's basketball (27-7, 15-3 Big Ten) season ended in shocking fashion on Monday afternoon. After earning the right to host the NCAA Tournament's first two rounds, 10th-seeded Virginia (22-11, 11-7 ACC) invaded Carver-Hawkeye Arena and stunned the Hawkeyes on their home floor with an 83-75 double overtime win. Iowa had chances to advance to a fifth Sweet 16 in seven seasons, but the Hoos just wouldn't go away.

And some critical Iowa mistakes kept the door open for a Virginia team that becomes the first team in women's NCAA Tournament history to begin in the First Four and advance to the Sweet 16. As the season closes, here's takeaways from the loss to Virginia: Another slow start doomed Iowa women's basketball Iowa closed its 2025-26 season failing to score more than 28 points in the first half of its final four games. Slow offensive starts became a troubling trend down the stretch, and the Hawkeyes' slow start on Monday proved to be one of the reasons its season ended prematurely.

Iowa couldn't connect from 3-point range Iowa didn't shoot it well enough to advance. The Hawkeyes finished just 5-of-29 from 3-point range, while Virginia knocked down 9-of-27 from beyond the arc. In the end, that was one of the main determining factors.

The free-throw line Sophomore guard Chit-Chat Wright had a golden opportunity to help Iowa sneak into the Sweet 16 at the end of the first overtime, but Wright was just 2-of-4 at the free-throw line. It was uncharacteristic for Wright, who entered Monday as an 85. 9% free-throw shooter on the season.