NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR - ARIZONA STATE VS VIRGINIA

March 18, 2026

Sa'Myah Smith

Paris Clark

Kymora Johnson

Carver Hawkeye Arena

Virginia Cavaliers

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with our visitors from the University of Virginia. First on the far left, we have Sa'Myah Smith. In the middle, Paris Clark. Right here next to me, Kymora Johnson. With that, we'll open it for questions.

Q. Paris, just your first overall impressions of getting here to Iowa and what you're expecting out of your opponent tomorrow.

PARIS CLARK: Yeah, definitely just different being here. I've never been here before. I don't think any of them have either. But it's just cool to see, especially the history that's gone down here.

But I think tomorrow, you know, we're just expecting it to be a good game, both teams to go out there and fight and compete for the win at the end of the day. I think we're just ready to prove why we made the tournament and why we should be here.

Q. This question is for Kymora. If you had to pick out lee things for the game tomorrow, what do you need to do to be successful against a tough Arizona State team?

KYMORA JOHNSON: I think I'd say probably discipline, effort, and attitude. I think those are two things that anybody has to have to win in March, so, yeah.

Q. Sa'Myah, if people that haven't been able to see you guys play this year or fans around the area that are coming out to watch your game tomorrow, how would you describe Virginia style of play and what do you guys want to hang your hat on?

SA'MYAH SMITH: I think we just want to show up and compete. I think we want to give a good game for people to watch, especially if they come all the way from Virginia. If they haven't seen us play, they'll see us compete for 40 minutes. That's what got us here. That's what we came to do, so.

Q. Question for Paris... up until this point, what have you learned about your team?

PARIS CLARK: I think just our fight and our dedication to playing. We know we've had some ups and downs, but ultimately, we've seen how we fight. We see how good we can be, so, yeah.

Q. Kymora, if I'm not mistaken, you're a hometown kid from Charlottesville, right?

KYMORA JOHNSON: Yes.

Q. What does it mean for you to have Virginia in the NCAA Tournament and all the success you've had being in your hometown and doing that at Virginia?

KYMORA JOHNSON: Yeah, it means a lot. It's hard to put into words but that's what I came here to do. That's what these girls came here to do, put this place back on the map. Virginia in its glory days was amazing. I grew up watching Virginia. My mom grew up watching Virginia, so just knowing that that's possible and finally being able to do it has been amazing. I'm really excited for tomorrow and the rest of a March.

Q. Just to continue to piggyback on that story line, can you describe even more what it was like to see some glory days of UVA, players you were watching. Was it Dawn? And what you carry into this moment.

KYMORA JOHNSON: Yeah, I personally --

Q. And also ball girl days. I hear you were a ball girl.

KYMORA JOHNSON: Yes. Yeah. I didn't grow up watching Dawn, but obviously just watching old YouTube be videos and stuff like that, but my mom did and she always talks about it, just the experience and the joy that they brought on to the court was amazing.

And, yeah, I was a ball girl for a long time. I actually played at JPJ when I was, like, in sixth or seventh grade. My AU team got the chance to play at halftime and so I look back at pictures all the time, just, like, it's a blessing to be able to play here, play for Virginia, so, yeah.

Q. Sa'Myah, at Virginia now but previous NCAA Tournament experiences and a lot of success in the tournament. How do you bring those experiences to your team this year and what have you shared with your team about what it means to play in the NCAA Tournament, what the environments are like?

SA'MYAH SMITH: Yeah, I mean, I think they've tried to bring that out a lot, just sharing my experiences, sharing what I think it takes to keep playing in March, what we have to do.

Overall, it's just about competing. It's win-or-go-home, survive and advance. That's what we piggybacked on, so just implementing that every single day in everything that we do.

Q. There's a lot of new this season on your team. What are some things that helped you mesh and trust each other?

PARIS CLARK: I think just experiences. Obviously, like, off the court we hang out. We'll hang out, watch movies, stuff like that. But I think on the court just experiencing, especially the tough times that we had, I feel like those have helped us grow closer and lean on each other because at the end of the day that's all we have. When we step out on the court, the opponents don't care about what we're going through. Nobody else cares. I think just coming together in those moments and those experiences have really helped us.

THE MODERATOR: Any further questions? All right. We'll dismiss our student-athletes. Thank you, ladies.