CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Ky'Asia Stanford scored 12 of her career-high 22 points in the first half as Gardner-Webb topped the Western Carolina Catamounts, 62-52, on Wednesday night.
The Runnin' Bulldogs (6-6) led by a bucket at the end of the first quarter, but the Catamounts opened up a four-point lead in the early minutes of the second.
Stanford did her best to keep Gardner-Webb in the game, reaching double figures in points with 3:55 left in the quarter and beginning an 11-0 run.
While Stanford ignited the run, it was freshman
Robyn Bouwer's three-pointer that gave the Runnin' Bulldogs the lead.
Jhessyka Williams and
Carley Plentovich also scored during the run, which lasted less than two minutes and gave Gardner-Webb a 27-20 lead.
Western Carolina (3-11) pulled within two, but Williams' three-pointer pushed the Runnin' Bulldogs to five, 30-25, at the break.
After the Catamounts used a 7-2 run to tie the game at 32 with 6:42 left in the third period, the Runnin' Bulldogs went on an 11-5 run to end the quarter. At the end of the third, Gardner-Webb led, 43-37. Stanford scored the final six points of the period for the Runnin' Bulldogs. Gardner-Webb shot 5-of-14 in the period.
Stanford, who ended the third quarter by tying her career-high 18 points, set a new career-high with a jumper just 3:06 into the fourth quarter. Her seventh field goal of the game gave Gardner-Webb a five-point cushion, 47-42.
The Runnin' Bulldogs took its first double-digit lead of the contest, 57-47, off C. Plentovich's corner three with 2:48 left in the contest and led by as many as 12 in the final minutes.
The 62-52 win gave Gardner-Webb its third win over Western Carolina in the past three seasons.
The Runnin' Bulldogs evened their record at .500 heading into Big South Conference play, while the Catamounts drop to 3-11 entering SOCON play.
Stanford led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field. The senior guard also went 7-of-9 from the charity stripe and pulled down eight rebounds.
Gabrielle Caponegro narrowly missed out on a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Western Carolina was led by Jewel Smalls' nine points and eight rebounds.
Gardner-Webb shot just 32.2 percent (19-of-59) in the win, while the Catamounts were slightly better at 34 percent (18-of-53). Free throws were one of the major differences as the Runnin' Bulldogs went to the line 22 times and made 19 of them (86.4 percent). Western Carolina hit just 50 percent (7-of-14) of its free throws.
Gardner-Webb will take off the remainder of the week before traveling to Buies Creek, N.C. for a battle with Campbell – its first Big South Conference game of the year – on Tuesday, January 8. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
