NICEVILLE, FLA. — Virginia shot 75 percent in the third quarter to break away from pesky Northwestern State, 69-48, in the opening round of the Beach Bracket of the Emerald Coast Classic at Northwest Florida State College Monday night.
The Cavaliers (5-1) will play Nebraska (6-0) at 7:30 p.m for the championship of the Beach Classic Tuesday. Northwestern State (3-3) will play Purdue Fort Wayne (3-3) for third place at 5 p.m.
Freshman guard Gabby White came off the bench scoring a career-high 13 points to pace a balanced Virginia attack. White also tied a career high with six rebounds.
Virginia junior guard Kymora Johnson, named to both the Wooden Award Watchlist and Naismith Player of the Year Trophy Preseason Watch List, added 10 points while playing only 23 minutes. Graduate guard Jilian Brown also tallied 10 points.
Johnson nailed a three-point basket at the top of the key to end the first quarter giving Virginia a 17-13 lead and then came back with another three-point basket to start the second quarter extending the advantage to 20-12.
“I think it’s always difficult to get that first game in,” said Virginia coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton. “We had a long trip and got in on Saturday. My message is that we never take anyone lightly and you definitely can’t on neutral courts. A lot of teams get upset on neutral courts, so I just wanted us to be the aggressor and assert ourselves early. We did punch first but I thought we got stagnant. We were able to weather the storm and do what we needed to pull away.”
Virginia made nine of 12 shots from the floor in the third period.
Northwestern State’s Vermell Atamah, who entered the game leading the NCAA in three-point baskets made per game (4.6 avg.), managed just seven points while being held to one three-point basket. Guard Carla Celaya led the Demons with eight points. Agugua-Hamilton praised the play of Paris Clark who defended Atamah.
“Paris (Clark) has been great on defense. All of our guards chipped in on defense,” said Agugua-Hamilton. “I think it was a team effort, but Paris really set the tone on defense and gave her fights the whole game. We wanted to make sure we limited her touches. That kid can really shoot. We respected her and took her out of her rhythm, and we did that.”
The smaller Demons held their own on the boards against a Virginia team which entered the game leading the NCAA in rebounding margin at 26.2. grabbing 35 rebounds to Virginia’s 42.
The Cavaliers forced Northwestern State into 19 turnovers.
