Heilig's Career-High 19 Points Leads GWU to Road Win over Kennesaw State, 68-59
December 29, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Kennesaw, Ga. - Gardner-Webb sophomore forward Jessica Heilig poured in a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead the Runnin' Bulldogs to a 68-59 non-conference road win over the Lady Owls of Kennesaw State on Friday night in Kennesaw, Ga.
The win pushes the Runnin' Bulldogs' winning streak to three games in a row and puts Gardner-Webb at 7-5 overall on the season, while the loss drops Kennesaw State to 4-8 overall on the year.
Behind Heilig's game-high 19 points was junior Jasmine Dale with 16 points, as she was 2-of-3 from behind the three-point line, and fellow junior Catrina Green with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds in the win.
The Lady Owls had four players in double figures led by Kristina Wells with 18 points and Chelsea Mason with 16 points, while senior Sametria Gideon added 14 points and 12 rebounds.
GWU knocked down 25-of-51 shot attempts (49 percent) for the game and held the Lady Owls to 19-of-53 shooting (36 percent) for the contest, as the home team was only 6-of-21 (29 percent) from behind the three-point line for the contest.
After a three-pointer by KSU's Mason opened up the scoring for the contest, Gardner-Webb's Green made good on a lay up on the next offensive possession for the Runnin' Bulldogs to put the score at 3-2 in favor of the home team with 19:27 to go in the opening half.
However, the Runnin' Bulldogs would struggle to find its offense over the next several minutes of play, as the Lady Owls flew out to an 8-2 lead with less than 17 minutes to go before the halftime break.
GWU's Heilig carried the visitors over the next several minutes of play, scoring six straight points and eight of the Runnin' Bulldogs' next 10 points to tie the score up at 12-12 with 13:42 on the scoreboard.
Another offensive lull by the Runnin' Bulldogs allowed the Lady Owls to soar out in front once more, this time by nine points at 23-14 on another made three-pointer by Mason at the 10:21 mark of the first half.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Lana Doran and Dale, followed by a lay up by Dale and a short two point jumper by Alicia Quinn was part of a 10-2 run by the Runnin' Bulldogs to put GWU within one at 25-24 with 6:56 to go before the halftime intermission.
Heilig would add back-to-back free throws at the 5:21 mark to give the Runnin' Bulldogs its first lead of the game at 26-25, as GWU kept the Lady Owls scoreless for over a five minute span in the first half.
Kennesaw State would end the scoring drought with yet another three-pointer from Mason at the 3:36 mark to tie the score up at 28-28 and then scored the only three points over the final 3:30 of the first half to take a 31-28 halftime lead of GWU at the break.
GWU, who held a three-point lead at 28-25 with 3:58 to go in the first half and failed to score for the remainder of the opening frame, saw its scoring drought continue for over a minute and a half in the second half until a jumper by Dale at the 18:26 mark ended the famine and cut the Kennesaw State lead to three at 33-30.
A 6-0 run by the Runnin' Bulldogs, capped off by a lay up by Heilig at the 13:43 mark, once again knotted the score up this time at 37-37, as the visitors refused to go away.
A lay up on the block from freshman forward Olivia Parker again jump started another Runnin' Bulldog run, as Gardner-Webb pulled back in front at 45-39 on a steal and fast break lay up by guard Mayhana Dunovant with 11:44 to go in the game.
Over the next six minutes of the game, the Runnin' Bulldogs had an answer for every Lady Owl basket, as the visitors refused to relinquish the lead and remained on top of Kennesaw State 54-51 with 5:49 to play on a trey from Dale.
Another three-pointer from Dale pushed GWU in front by six at 57-51 with less than five minutes to go in regulation, forcing the home team to call a 30-second timeout.
Despite making good on only one field goal in the final five minutes of regulation, the Runnin' Bulldogs' made good on 9-of-11 free throw attempts over the final 2:22 of the game and held Kennesaw State to only eight points over the final five minutes to pull away with a 68-59 road win over the Lady Owls.
GWU out-rebounded the Lady Owls 40-30 for the game and shot 63 percent, 15-of-24, from the charity stripe in the win.
The win in GWU's final non-conference game of the season puts the Runnin' Bulldogs at 7-4 on the year in non-conference play.
The win is also head coach Rick Reeves' 396 career win as he is now four shy of career win number 400.
Gardner-Webb (7-5) will tip-off the 2013 calendar year at Longwood University on Thursday, January 3rd, at 7 p.m. in Farmville, Va. Kennesaw State (4-8) will host Florida Gulf Coast in Atlantic Sun play on Monday, December 31st, at 2:30 p.m.
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| Box Score: GWU 68, Kennesaw State 59 |
