ROCK HILL, S.C.- Erica Williams scored 24 points and hauled down 10 rebounds to send Winthrop (2-6, 1-1 BSC) to an 81-62 victory over the Gardner-Webb women's basketball team (5-2, 1-1 BSC) on Saturday afternoon in the Winthrop Coliseum.
Winthrop had a spirited effort on the defenseive end as it forced 16 turnovers by Gardner-Webb and cashed the TO's into 19 points compared to just two for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
The Eagles put together a great shooting display in the second half, connecting on 17-36 for a 47.2% clip, and on the afternoon Winthrop outscored Gardner-Webb 42-30 in the paint.
Candace Brown led the way for the Dogs with 24 points on 8-15 from the floor and also hauled down six boards, while Olivia Parker notched her fifth double-double of the season and the 25th of her career, with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Alexus Hill was also in double-figures for the Runnin' Bulldogs with 16 points and did a great job of distributing the basketball tying her career-high with 6 assists.
Alongside Williams, Winthrop had three players with double figures for the game, as Aliyah Kilpatich had 22 points and 12 boards and Arianna Whitaker and Jimecheia Banks each chipped in with 11.
Gardner-Webb and Winthrop would trade baskets to open up the first period of play, but back-to-back buckets by Brown gave the Runnin' Bulldogs a quick three point lead, 9-6.
With just under three minutes remaining in the opening 10 minutes, Alexus Hill scored a fastbreak layup to give the Dogs a 13-8 lead, but Winthrop responded with a quick 7-2 run to tie the game at 15.
Jimecheia Banks nailed a three-point and Banks hit a jumper to extend Winthrop's advantage to the largest of the opening period 20-15, but Hill's layup with three seconds left in the period cut the defecit to three 20-17 at the end of the opening period.
Winthrop continued to hold the lead for the remainder of the second period with Gardner-Webb cutting the defecit to nine with 3:59 remaining on Curie's two free-throws, but the Eagles led 39-27 at halftime.
Winthrop pushed its lead to as much as 22 in the third quarter on a layup by Williams with 1:46 left in the period and would go on for the 61-62 victory.
Gardner-Webb will now be off for 10 days before it returns to action Dec. 15 when it hosts Kennesaw State in Paul Porter Arena at 7:00 p.m.
