Woman from East Virginia (3)
I believe the answer is:
eva
'woman' is the definition.
'east virginia' is the wordplay.
'east' becomes 'e' ('E' can be a synonym of 'east').
'virginia' becomes 'va' (US state abbreviation).
'e'+'va'='EVA'
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for eva that I've seen before include "Little --, US pop singer" , "Female" , "- - , nee Braun" , "-- Braun, Hitler's wife" , "Braun, Brick or Peron" .)