BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. –
Gabrielle Caponegro's last second jumper gave the Runnin' Bulldogs a 75-73 win over visiting Longwood on Gardner-Webb's Senior Day inside Paul Porter Arena Saturday afternoon.
With the score tied with 10 seconds left on the clock, Gardner-Webb (8-12, 8-7 Big South) looked to take the lead on a driving basket by
Alasia Smith. The basket fell off the right side of the rim, and was quickly grabbed by
Jhessyka Williams, who quickly passed the ball to an open Caponegro.
Caponegro then knocked down the go-ahead bucket from about three feet inside the three-point line with 0.5 seconds left on the clock.
Longwood (12-9, 11-5 Big South) had one last attempt to tie the game or score the game winner but was unable to get a shot off in time, giving the Runnin' Bulldogs the win.
GWU trailed by four points, 73-69, with 1:48 to go, but was able to trim one point off of the deficit with 1:35 to go on a Williams free throw, and after turnovers and missed free throws by Longwood, the 'Dogs tied the game with 18 seconds to go on a deep three by
Lauren Bevis.
The Lancers drew a foul with 12 seconds left on a three-point attempt by Anne-Hamilton Leroy, but she missed all three attempts, leading to the final offensive possession for GWU with the score at 73-73.
Gardner-Webb had five scorers in double digits on the day, led by Smith with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Bevis followed with 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-8 from long distance.
Alexis Hueston finished with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting with nine rebounds, and Caponegro finished the night with 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting with nine boards.
Longwood was paced by Kyla McMakin with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, followed by Leroy with 19 points.
The Runnin' Bulldogs were 28-of-62 (45.2 percent) from the floor, including 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) from long distance. The Lancers made 27-of-52 (51.9 percent) of their attempts on the day, including 9-of-20 (45.0 percent) from beyond the arc.
The game was tightly contested throughout, with six ties and 15 lead changes.
Gardner-Webb returns to action on Thursday, February 25, hosting Radford at 6:00 pm inside Paul Porter Arena.
