Lady Bulldogs Overcome Sluggish First Half to Defeat Longwood 72-58
December 31, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb women's basketball team overcame a sluggish first half to outscore Longwood 42-28 in the final 20 minutes of play to defeat the Lancers 72-58 in Paul Porter Arena on Wednesday night.
The Lady Bulldogs had five players in double figures on the night,
as Gardner-Webb overcame 23 turnovers and a poor shooting first
half to hold the Lancers to 20.7 percent shooting in the second
half to pull away for the double digit win.
Both teams struggled off of the opening tip, as the score was tied
up at 6-6 with 13:37 to play in the first half.
GWU began to make some shots over the next four minutes, as a
driving lay up by sophomore guard Teonika Webb pushed the Lady
Bulldogs ahead by nine at 18-9 with eight minutes to go in the
opening frame.
However, Longwood battled its way back into the contest, taking a
27-26 lead on a three-pointer from Emma Zieverink with less than
two minutes remaining in the opening half.
A Webb three-pointer with 12 seconds to go knotted the score up at
30-30 heading into the halftime break.
Gardner-Webb came out of the break with a purpose, as another
three-pointer by Webb, this time from the left corner, put the Lady
Bulldogs up for good at 41-38 with 14:55 to play in the
contest.
The three jump started the Lady Bulldogs on both ends of the floor,
as Gardner-Webb finished the game on a 31-20 run, holding Longwood
to only six made field goals in the final 20 minutes of play.
For the game, which was plagued with foul calls all night long,
Gardner-Webb shot 48 percent and held Longwood to 26.2 percent from
the floor. The Lady Bulldogs overcame 23 turnovers with its 16
assists and 32 points in the paint. GWU also outscored the Lancers
36-21 in bench points for the game.
Preseason Big South All-Conference selections Dominique Hudson and
Margaret Roundtree led the way with 13 points apiece, while
Roundtree added a team-high nine boards in 33 minutes of play.
Junior guard Courtney Epps poured in 11 points, while center Sandra
Vaitkute and Webb each had 10 points apiece.
The Lancers were led by guard Becky Fernandes' game-high 20 points,
while forward Brittanni Billups added 11 points and five rebounds
for the game.
The Lady Bulldogs improve to 11-2 overall and 7-1 at home with the
win, finishing the season 11-2 in non-conference play. The loss
drops the Lancers to 4-11 on the season.
Gardner-Webb will tip-off its 2009-10 Big South Conference slate on
Saturday afternoon, as the Lady Bulldogs will welcome the Liberty
Lady Flames to Paul Porter Arena. Saturday afternoon's conference
showdown will be the first time since 1998-99 that the two teams
who met in the previous year's Big South Tournament championship
game have opened conference play against each other. That year,
Coach Reeves led Liberty past UNC Asheville on the road, 71-56,
Jan. 9, 1999. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.
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| Box Score: Gardner-Webb 72, Longwood 58 |
