BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Carley Plentovich scored a career-high 27 points and Gabrielle Caponegro grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs to their fourth consecutive win, a 69-59 victory over the UNC Asheville Bulldogs on Thursday night.

Gardner-Webb (8-6, 2-0 Big South) begins Big South Conference play a perfect 2-0 for the first time in school history, while UNC Asheville (5-9, 0-3 Big South) remains winless in Big South action and has lost its last six games.

The game was a dog fight in the opening quarter, as the lead traded teams multiple times. No team led by more than four points, an honor that belonged to UNC Asheville.

Trailing by four, the Runnin' Bulldogs outscored their in-state rival by five over the remainder of the first 10 minutes to take a 17-15 lead after one period.

UNC Asheville would battle back in the second quarter for a 26-25 lead, but it would be its last of the night.

Gardner-Webb ended the period on a 10-0 run to take a 35-26 lead at the half. C. Plentovich accounted for five of GWU's 10 points over the last 2:46 of the quarter when the Runnin' Bulldogs pulled in front for good.

Gardner-Webb's lead hovered around 13 points through the majority of the third quarter, and the 'Dogs would lead by as many as 16 when Morgan Pointer came off the bench and immediately knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key.

16 points was the Runnin' Bulldogs largest lead of the game, as UNC Asheville would attempt a comeback in the fourth period but fall short. 

Trailing by 15, UNC Asheville began the final quarter by scoring the first seven points and cutting GWU's lead to single digits, 54-46.

Caponegro pushed the Runnin' Bulldogs' lead back to double digits via a layup off a pass from Ky'Asia Stanford, and less than a minute later, Savannah Plentovich would extend Gardner-Webb's lead to 12 points, but UNC Asheville would threaten again.

In fewer than 90 seconds, the Bulldogs would erase five points off Gardner-Webb's advantage, as they looked to pull off the comeback victory.

UNC Asheville forced Gardner-Webb to knock down free throws late in the contest and began fouling with under two minutes left. The 'Dogs would be successful at the charity stripe, hitting 9-of-10 attempts earn the 69-59 win.

C. Plentovich found herself at the line the majority of the time when UNC Asheville decided to foul, and missed just one of her six attempts in the final minutes.

The 69-59 triumph helped Gardner-Webb extend its winning streak to four games, a streak that began in December with a victory over the Converse College Valkyries.

In addition to C. Plentovich's 27 points (7-of-13 FG, 8-of-9 FT), Jhessyka Williams added 11 points, while Stanford contributed 10. Caponegro led the 'Dogs with 11 rebounds, including six that extended GWU's time on the offensive end of the hardwood. Gardner-Webb shot 22-of-61 from the floor (36.1 percent) but missed just six free throws all night, hitting 18-of-24 attempts (75 percent).

UNC Asheville was paced by Jessica Wall's 14 points. UNCA shot better than Gardner-Webb, hitting 40.7 percent (22-of-52) of its shots, but the Bulldogs made just 13 free throws.

The Runnin' Bulldogs will look to move to 3-0 in Big South play on Saturday when the High Point Panthers visit Paul Porter Arena for a 2 p.m. tipoff. The game is part of a doubleheader with the men's squad set to take on USC Upstate at 5 p.m.

Both of Gardner-Webb's basketball programs will support Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer, a project of the Go4theGoal Foundation, on Saturday. Players from both teams will wear gold shoelaces to help raise awareness for childhood cancer.