The Cavaliers will play the winner of the Iowa-Fairleigh Dickinson game that tips off in approximately 30 minutes.
Before Iowa women's basketball took the floor for their first round matchup, Carver-Hawkeye Arena's floor was already working overtime - literally.
No. 10-seeded Virginia took down No. 7 Georgia in overtime, 82-73, on Saturday afternoon.
Virginia will play the winner of the Iowa-Fairleigh Dickinson game on Monday afternoon. The Hawkeyes and Knights are set to tip off their first round matchup at approximately 3 p.m. CT on ESPN. No. 2 seed Iowa is a heavy favorite.
First Half
Though Virginia was the lower seed, it came out as the aggressor early on, jumping out to a 10-8 lead. The back-and-forth affair continued for the remainder of the quarter, but a Romi Levy transition layup off a turnover gave the Cavaliers a 21-16 lead and forced Georgia head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson to call a timeout.
Virginia rode that momentum to the first break, holding a 24-16 lead after one. The lead would blossom to 10 early in the second, but that's when the Lady Bulldogs decided to wake up.
Junior guard Rylie Theuerkauf took over, collecting 20 points in the first half alone to tie the game at 38 apiece. Trailing 42-41 in the waning seconds, Mia Woolfolk knocked down an 11-foot jumper off an assist from Theuerkauf, and Georgia took a 43-42 lead to the break.
Second Half
Both teams continued to play back-and-forth basketball in the third. The Bulldogs looked like they would take control after a Savannah Henderson triple made it 55-48 with 2:44 left in the third, but the Cavaliers kept fighting back, rattling off eight points in the final two minutes of action to slice the deficit down to just three, 59-56 after three quarters.
Virginia's magic appeared to wear off early in the fourth, but just as Georgia fans began thinking about a potential second round date with Iowa, the Cavaliers decided they weren't ready to get off the dance floor just yet.
The Bulldogs slumped into a 3:12 scoring drought, and Virginia responded by knocking down a pair of triples to make it a 65-64 Georgia lead with over six minutes to go. The Cavaliers regained the edge moments later, and it was a race to the finish line from there.
Tied at 71 with just over a minute left, Woolfolk missed a pair of foul shots to give Virginia a chance to take the lead. The Cavaliers had a look from three, but it clanked off the rim.
That gave Georgia one look to win the game. Trinity Turner's jumper from the free throw line missed, and an additional look from Woolfolk also fell short, sending the game to overtime.
Overtime
Virginia pulled away in the extra session to secure its first NCAA tournament victory in eight years. Sa'Myah Smith led the way with five points, but it was the Cavaliers' defense that came through in the clutch - Georgia only scored two points in the period.
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