Virginia held Northwestern State to 34.5 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers to grind out a 69-48 win on Monday in the opening round of the Emerald Coast Classic.
The win sends the ‘Hoos (5-1, NET: 73) to the championship game against Nebraska (6-0, NET: 40), which defeated Fort Wayne, 80-57, in the other first-round game on Monday.
UVA got 11 second-half points from freshman Gabby White, who finished with 13 points (6-of-9 FG) and six rebounds.
That helped make up for an off-night from preseason All-ACC guard Kymora Johnson, who had 10 points, but was 4-of-16 from the floor and 2-of-10 from three in 23 minutes.
Johnson’s numbers are down this season – she’s averaging 15.5 points and 5.3 assists per game, shooting 40.2 percent from the floor overall and 32.0 percent from three; in 2024-2025, she averaged 17.9 points and 5.8 assists, and shot 44.2 percent overall and 38.4 percent from three.
Also noticeable: she’s only put up nine free-throw attempts (1.5 FTA/g) so far this season; last season, she averaged 3.4 attempts per game.
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Chris Graham
