Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball

Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball
Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball
	2025–26 Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team
University	University of Virginia
Head coach	Aaron Roussell (1st season)
Location	Charlottesville, Virginia
Arena	John Paul Jones Arena ; (capacity: 14,858)
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Nickname	Cavaliers
Colors	Orange and blue;
NCAA Division I tournament runner-up
	1991
Final Four	1990, 1991, 1992
Other NCAA Division I tournament results
Final Four	1990, 1991, 1992
Elite Eight	1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996
Sweet Sixteen	1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2026
Appearances	1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2018, 2026
Conference tournament champions
	1990, 1992, 1993
Conference regular-season champions
	1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000
Uniforms

The Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team represents the University of Virginia in women's basketball. The school competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Cavaliers play home basketball games at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia.^[2] They are currently coached by Aaron Roussell, who was hired on April 7, 2026.^[3]

Players

Retired numbers

The Cavaliers have retired four numbers to date:^[4]

Dawn Staley (left) and Wendy Palmer, some of the players that have their numbers retired

No.	Player	Pos.	Career
Virginia Cavaliers retired numbers
11	Donna Holt	G	1985–88
24	Dawn Staley	PG	1988–1992
25	Cathy Grimes	F	1981–84
31	Wendy Palmer	F	1992–96

Season records since 1990

The Cavaliers reached the Final Four in three consecutive seasons, reaching the title game in 1991, losing 70–67 to Tennessee in overtime.^[5]^[6]

Season	Record	Conference record	Coach
1989–90	29–6	11–3 (2nd)	Debbie Ryan
1990–91	31–3	14–0 (1st)
1991–92	32–2	15–1 (1st)
1992–93	26–6	13–3 (1st)
1993–94	27–5	15–1 (1st)
1994–95	27–5	16–0 (1st)
1995–96	26–7	13–3 (1st)
1996–97	23–8	12–4 (2nd)
1997–98	19–10	9–7 (5th)
1998–99	20–9	12–4 (2nd)
1999-00	25–9	13–3 (1st)
2000–01	18–14	8–8 (5th)
2001–02	17–13	9–7 (T-3rd)
2002–03	17–14	9–7 (3rd)
2003–04	13–16	6–10 (7th)
2004–05	21–11	8–6 (5th)
2005–06	20–12	5–9 (9th)
2006–07	19–15	5–9 (8th)
2007–08	24–10	10–4 (T-3rd)
2008–09	24–10	8–6 (T-5th)
2009–10	21–10	9–5 (3rd)
2010–11	19–16	5–9 (T-8th)
2011–12	25–11	9–7 (T-5th)	Joanne Boyle
2012–13	16–14	8–10 (6th)
2013–14	14–17	6–10 (10th)
2014–15	17–14	7–9 (9th)
2015–16	18–16	6–10 (9th)
2016–17	20–13	7–9 (7th)
2017–18	19–14	10–6 (T-6th)
2018–19	12–19	5–11 (12th)	Tina Thompson
2019–20	13–17	8–10 (T-9th)
2020–21	0–5	0–2 (N/A)
2021–22	5–22	2–16 (T-14th)
2022–23	15–15	4–14 (T-13th)	Amaka Agugua-Hamilton
2023–24	16–16	7–11 (T-10th)
2024–25	17–15	8–10 (T-10th)
2025–26	22–12	11–7 (T-8th)

NCAA tournament results

The Cavaliers have appeared the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 26 times. They have a record of 37–26.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1984	#5	First Round	#4 NC State	L 73–86
1985	#6	First Round	#3 Tennessee	L 55–65
1986	#1	First Round	#8 James Madison	L 62–71
1987	#3	First Round Sweet Sixteen	#6 Memphis #2 Tennessee	W 76–75 L 58–77
1988	#2	First Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#7 St. John's #3 Rutgers #1 Tennessee	W 85–64 W 89–75 L 76–84
1989	#4	Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#12 West Virginia #1 Tennessee	W 81–68 L 47–80
1990	#2	Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#7 Penn State #3 Providence #1 Tennessee #1 Stanford	W 85–64 W 77–71 W 79–75 (OT) L 66–75
1991	#1	Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship	#8 Stephen F. Austin #5 Oklahoma State #10 Lamar #3 Connecticut 1 Tennessee	W 74–72 W 76–61 W 85–70 W 61–55 L 67–70 (OT)
1992	#1	Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#8 George Washington #4 West Virginia #3 Vanderbilt #1 Stanford	W 97–58 W 103–83 W 70–58 L 65–66
1993	#2	Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#10 Florida #6 Georgetown #1 Ohio State	W 69–55 W 77–57 L 73–75
1994	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#14 Loyola (MD) #6 SW Missouri State #2 USC	W 72–47 W 67–63 L 66–85
1995	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#14 Dartmouth #6 Florida #2 Louisiana Tech #1 Connecticut	W 71–68 W 72–67 W 63–62 L 63–67
1996	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#14 Manhattan #6 George Washington #2 Old Dominion #1 Tennessee	W 100–55 W 62–43 W 72–60 L 46–52
1997	#4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#13 Troy State #5 Utah #1 Stanford	W 96–74 W 65–46 L 69–91
1998	#6	First Round Second Round	#11 SMU #3 Arizona	W 77–68 L 77–94
1999	#9	First Round	#8 Penn State	L 69–82
2000	#4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#13 Pepperdine #5 Boston College #1 Tennessee	W 74–62 W 74–70 L 55–67
2001	#9	First Round	#8 Michigan	L 71–81
2002	#8	First Round	#9 Iowa	L 62–69
2003	#8	First Round Second Round	#9 Illinois #1 Tennessee	W 72–56 L 51–81
2005	#6	First Round Second Round	#11 Old Dominion #3 Minnesota	W 79–57 L 58–73
2008	#4	First Round Second Round	#13 UC Santa Barbara #5 Old Dominion	W 86–52 L 85–88 (OT)
2009	#5	First Round Second Round	#12 Marquette #4 California	W 68–61 L 73–99
2010	#5	First Round	#12 Green Bay	L 67–69
2018	#10	First Round Second Round	#7 California #2 South Carolina	W 68–62 L 56–66
2026	#10	First Four First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#10 Arizona State #7 Georgia #2 Iowa #3 TCU	W 57–55 W 82–73 (OT) W 83–75 (2OT) L 69–79