Furious Rally Falls Short For 'Dogs In 78-74 Loss At Davidson
November 30, 2013 | Women's Basketball
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Gardner-Webb rallied from a double figures second-half deficit to challenge Davidson Saturday afternoon, but fell 78-74 at Belk Arena.
Trailing by 20 points with 11:13 to play, the Runnin' Bulldogs (4-2) slowly began the process of their comeback, chipping away at Davidson's working margin. The lead still stood at 14 points with 3:02 left after a three-point play by the Wildcats' Laura Murray, when Gardner-Webb put its foot heavily on the pedal to rally.
Jessica Heilig sank a pair of jumpers on consecutive possessions to trim the Davidson (3-5) lead to 73-63 with 1:30 left, and Mayhana Dunovant converted a Catrina Green steal for a layup to cut the lead to single digits, 73-65, with 1:00 remaining.
Green put down a stick back with 40 seconds left to trim the lead further, and cut the margin to 73-69 on a jumper with 36 seconds left. Murray made one of two free throws on Davidson's next trip down the floor to push the lead to 74-69, but Green answered with another layup to cut the lead to 74-71 with 23 seconds remaining.
Shannon Eriksson made two free throws with 10 seconds left for a five-point Davidson lead and Gardner-Webb would have one last push. Candace Brown drained a 3-pointer with one second on the clock to make the score 76-74, but the Runnin' Bulldogs ran out of time.
Eriksson made two more free throws after being fouled on the inbounds, icing the game for the Wildcats.
Gardner-Webb buttoned down on the glass in the second half, out rebounding Davidson 27-23 in the final 20 minutes and pulling down 12 offensive boards in that stretch. That led to a 9-3 edge in second-chance scoring in the final 20 minutes and a 22-14 edge in the paint.
Green led the Runnin' Bulldogs with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and pulled down eight rebounds. The Greensboro, N.C., senior also blocked two shots and had two steals in 23 minutes - which were limited due to foul trouble.
Brown had 10 points and five rebounds off the bench and Olivia Parker pulled down a team-high nine boards off the bench for Gardner-Webb - which shot 36.7 percent for the game and 11-of-24 from the free throw line (45.8 percent).
Gardner-Webb held a sizable 30-8 edge in bench scoring Saturday and scored 15 second-chance points for the game.
Davidson put four players in double figures, led by Murray's 20 points (seven assists). Hannah Early and Dakota Dukes each had 14 points and 12 rebounds inside and Lillian McCabe came off the bench to score 16.
The Wildcats were effective at the free throw line, converting 23-of-30 chances (76.7 percent).
Gardner-Webb begins Big South Conference play next, traveling to face Coastal Carolina at 7:00 pm on Thursday, December 5 and taking on Presbyterian in Clinton, S.C., on Saturday, December 7 at 7:00 pm.
The Runnin' Bulldogs don't play at home again until December 14 vs. Wofford (4:30 pm).
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