Green Tops 1,000, Leads GWU To 53-47 Win At UNC Asheville
December 28, 2013 | Women's Basketball
The game was Green's seventh double-double of the season and the 27th of her career in Boiling Springs.
Gardner-Webb (7-5, 2-1 Big South) won for the second time in league play away from home, but had to rally after Asheville (4-8, 1-2 Big South) stormed back from a 30-15 halftime hole. The host Bulldogs trimmed Gardner-Webb's lead to just one, 33-32, by the 11:41 media timeout, as the Runnin' Bulldogs missed eight of its first nine shots in the second half, was whistled for nine fouls in the first eight minutes and turned the basketball over nine times during that early stretch to lose momentum.
Asheville would go in front, 38-35 with seven minutes left, capping a 23-5 run to start the half. Gardner-Webb would regain its balance, but Asheville pushed in front by as many as four points on Ja'Da Brayboy's long 3-pointer to beat the shot clock with 4:16 to play - giving the home team a 43-39 edge. Green put Gardner-Webb on her shoulders from there, scoring six of her 18 points in the final 4:04 - pulling Gardner-Webb within one point, 43-42, on a tip in with 4:04 to play and giving the Runnin' Bulldogs a 44-43 lead with 2:37 left - her 1,000th and 1,001st career points - on another follow shot.
Gardner-Webb would hold the lead for the rest of the way, going up 48-43 with 1:14 to play on another Green layup and getting a clutch 3-pointer from Lana Doran late in the shot clock to go up 51-45 with just 26.3 seconds left. Jasmine Dale capped the game-ending, 14-4, run with two free throws with 10.0 seconds remaining and Candace Brown stole the ball on Asheville's last possession to run out the clock.
Gardner-Webb dominated the game's opening moments and jumped out to an early 9-0 lead. The 'Dogs used a 3-pointer from Doran, a layup late in the shot clock from Jessica Heilig and back-to-back runners from Dale for the early advantage. Asheville missed its first nine shots to fall behind, and finally scratched with 13:24 left in the half to cut the lead to 9-2.
The Runnin' Bulldogs cooled from the floor, however, and Asheville knocked down a pair of free throws, a mid-range jumper and a 3-pointer to tie the score with 10:12 to play before the half.
Gardner-Webb missed 10 field goal chances in a row during Asheville's run to catch up, but would not be deterred. The 'Dogs found Green inside more regularly to break away, going on a 12-2 run to lead 21-11 on a Green jump hook from the right baseline with 4:12 left before the break. Green scored six points in that rally, hitting a pair of free throws and two jumpers close to the rim.
The lead would grow to 28-13 on a driving layup by Brown with 53 seconds left and Green stuck back a follow shot with 9.8 seconds left for a 30-15 lead at the break.
The Runnin' Bulldogs shot 38.2 percent for the half, with Green (eight points), Doran (six points) and Dale (six points) handling the bulk of the scoring. Doreen Richardson came off the bench to score four points and dish of four assists in just minutes in the first half and providing a nice defensive lift as well. GWU held Asheville to frigid 20.7 percent shooting in the half, which including a 1-for-12 effort from 3-point range.
Gardner-Webb finished the game shooting 36.1 percent (22-of-61), making six of its last eight shots to close the game. GWU had made just 3-of-19 shots to begin the second half before its clutch surge in the final five minutes. In addition to Green's big night (8-of-11 from the floor, seven offensive rebounds), Gardner-Webb got nine points each from Doran and Dale and outrebounded Asheville 45-37. Behind Green, GWU outscored the hosts 35-14 in the paint.
Asheville got 12 points from Brayboy and 11 from Shonese Jones, but shot just 28.8 percent for the game (15-of-52) and 3-of-19 from long range (15.8 percent).
Gardner-Webb begins a two-game league home stand on Thursday, January 2, when it hosts Radford at 7:00 pm in Paul Porter Arena.
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