Virginia’s Comeback Effort Falls Short in 91-82 Defeat to Nebraska

NICEVILLE, Fla. — After trailing by 19 points in the third quarter, the Cavaliers matched a program record shooting 80-percent in the fourth to pull within four points in the late stages of the Beach Bracket championship at the Emerald Coast Classic. Virginia (5-2) ultimately fell to Nebraska (7-0) by a score of 91-82 on Tuesday night (Nov. 25) at Raider Arena.

Tournament MVP Britt Prince led the Cornhuskers with a tournament record 30 points while Amiah Hargrove netted 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds. The Cornhuskers took the lead with just under four minutes to play in the first quarter and never trailed again.

Kymora Johnson led the team with 24 points, six rebounds and six assists while netting 15 of her points in a fourth-quarter rally that saw the Cavaliers outscore the Cornhuskers 32-22. All-Tournament team selection Paris Clark scored 15 points and dished out eight assists while Romi Levy’s 11 points rounded out a trio of Cavaliers in double figures.

The Cavaliers tied a program record shooting 80-percent (8-for-10) from the floor and went 5-for-7 from long range in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to two possessions with as few as 16 seconds left on the clock.

How It Happened
Levy scored the first five points of the game for the Cavaliers and finished a back-and-forth opening frame with seven points to lead all players. No more than five points separated the teams in the first quarter as the Cavaliers trailed 18-16 going into the second.

Nebraska bridged the first two periods with an 11-4 run and eventually stretched its lead to as many as 11 points [42-31]. Turnovers hurt the Cavaliers in the opening half as Nebraska netted 15 points off eight takeaways. Nebraska’s Prince led all scorers with 18 first-half points as Virginia trailed by a score of 42-33 at the break.

The Cavaliers trailed by a score of 69-50 going into the fourth quarter but scored the first nine points of the frame to cut the deficit down to 10 [69-59]. Clark knocked down a three-pointer with 4:04 remaining to cut the lead to just six points before a pair of Johnson free throws cut the lead to four.

Game Notes

• Virginia tied a program record shooting 80-percent (8-10) in a quarter (vs NC State, 1/13/22)
• Double figure scorers: Johnson (24), Clark (15), Levy (11)
• Johnson recorded her fourth 20-point game of the season
• Paris Clark was named to the Beach Bracket All-Tournament Team
• The Cavaliers fall to 1-1 in the all-time series with Nebraska
• Virginia drops to 33-10 against non-conference opponents under Amaka Agugua-Hamilton
• The Cavaliers were outrebounded 37-29
• Each team committed 15 turnovers
• The Cavaliers shot 50-percent from the field (25-for-50) while Nebraska shot 50.8 percent (30-for-59)
• Virginia outscored Nebraska 32-22 in the fourth quarter

Up Next:
Virginia returns home to host Maryland Eastern Shore on Sunday (Nov. 30) at John Paul Jones Arena. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX).