White Leads Virginia Past Northwestern State at Emerald Coast Classic

NICEVILLE, Fla. — Freshman Gabby White delivered an impressive second half off the bench as the Cavaliers pulled away from Northwestern State to clinch a place in the Beach Bracket championship game at the Emerald Coast Classic. Virginia (5-1) defeated Northwestern State by a score of 69-48 on Monday night (Nov. 24) at Raider Arena.

White led Virginia offensively with a career-high 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting to go with six rebounds. Kymora Johnson (10 pts, 3 ast) and Jillian Brown (10 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast) each scored in double figures as well.

The Cavaliers shot 75-percent (9-for-12) in the third quarter and began to pull away as White poured in 11 of her 13 points and all six of her rebounds in the second half. Virginia led by as many as 24 points while outscoring its opponents 39-28 in the third and fourth quarters.

How It Happened
A slow start saw both teams shoot a combined 4-for-22 from the field. Caitlin Weimar led the Cavaliers at the first quarter break with five points while Paris Clark collected three rebounds as Virginia took a 17-13 lead into the second quarter.

The Cavaliers built their lead up to as many as 12 points (30-18) before taking a 10-point lead into the second half. Johnson led Virginia with 10 points in the opening half as her seven points in the second quarter helped the Cavaliers grow their lead to double digits going into the halftime break.

Virginia began to pull away in the third quarter sparked by an 8-0 scoring run to increase its lead to 15-points with 5:41 to go in the third period. The Cavaliers shot 57-percent (16-for-28) in the second half to and limited their opponents to just 40-percent (10-for-25) secure the victory.

From Head Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton:
“I think it’s always difficult to get that first game in. 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.”

With the Win:

• The Cavaliers advance to take on Nebraska in the Beach Bracket championship game
• Virginia improves to 1-0 in the all-time series with Northwestern State
• UVA also improved to 33-9 against non-conference opponents under Amaka Agugua-Hamilton
• Virginia’s all-time record is now 998-564 (.683) only two wins shy of the program’s 1,000^th victory

Game Notes

• Gabby White recorded a career-high 13 points
• White matched a career-high with six rebounds
• Three Cavaliers scored in double figures: White (13), Johnson (10), Brown (10)
• Jillian Brown scored in double figures for the first time this season
• Raiane Dos Santos recorded a career-high nine points
• Virginia outrebounded Northwestern State by a margin of 42-35
• The Cavaliers have outrebounded their opponents in every game this season
• Virginia forced 19 NSU turnovers and committed just 12
• The Cavaliers have won the turnover battle in every game this season
• UVA held their opponents without an individual player in double figures for the second consecutive game

Up Next:

The Cavaliers advance to the Beach Bracket championship game where they will take on Nebraska Tuesday (Nov. 25). Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on FloSports.