Bulldogs Fall To Belmont In A-Sun Semifinals, 57-48
March 09, 2007 | Women's Basketball
DOTHAN, Ala. - The Gardner-Webb women's basketball team lost a hard fought decision to Belmont in the A-Sun semifinals Friday evening by a 57-48 loss in Dothan, Ala.
The Bulldogs end the season at 14-17 while the Bruins improve to 24-6 on the year.
Freshman Brittany Boyce paced the squad with a team-high 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting. Senior Shameka Smith notched nine points and nine rebounds. Fellow senior Novia Sturdivant, redshirt-junior Candyse Kelly and freshman Jenny Sprouse each chipped in eight points in the loss.
A night after torching the nets in the win over Campbell, GWU managed to connect on just 28.3 percent of its shots, hitting 15-of-53 shots from the floor. However, the Bulldogs hit 50.0 of their three-point attempts (6-of-12).
The Bruins came out of the intermission on fire 15-3 run, essentially putting the game out of reach for GWU. However, the Bulldogs took Belmont's best punch and fought back to within nine on a couple of occasions.
Although GWU sliced the lead to under 10, the Bulldogs were unable to get any closer.
Boyce's three-ball with 1:30 remaining put the final points on the board in the game, as both teams had opportunities to score, but were unable to put the ball in the bucket.
The biggest differential in the contest came on the glass as Belmont outrebounded the Bulldogs by a 48-32 margin. Despite the difference, GWU held the No. 1 seed to just 11 second-chance points while netting nine itself.
Belmont had the advantage with 24 bench points while the Bulldogs notched 21.
The loss marked the final competition for seniors Brittany Harmon, Shameka Smith and Novia Sturdivant.
Despite the loss of the three seniors, the women's basketball team looks loaded for next year and has one of the best chances in the league to win the Atlantic Sun Tournament.
| Overall Statistics |
| GWU 31 |
