BOILING SPRINGS – Gardner-Webb used a signature second-half surge Wednesday afternoon to run to a 91-87 win over College of Charleston.

The Runnin' Bulldogs (4-1) won their fourth game in a row behind 23 points and 13 rebounds from Jhessyka Williams and 21 points from Alasia Smith. Lauren Bevis added 16 and Layken Cox scored 14 to lead the win.

After falling behind 16-4 in the early going, Gardner-Webb regained its composure and began chipping away. The deficit was down to 44-38 by halftime and a big third quarter turned the tide in the home team's favor.

A three from Bevis and a three-point conversion from Smith quickly trimmed the margin down to three points with 8:42 to go in the third and back-to-back buckets from Cox in the paint – and a Bevis free throw – cut the lead to 51-50 at the 7:21 mark.

Charleston (1-3) was able to stretch its lead back to five points, but Smith connected on a layup to tie the game with 4:44 to go in the third quarter. A pair of Smith free throws with 58.2 seconds left gave Gardner-Webb a 68-66 lead at the end of the third.

Charleston pulled back in front on a Jazmyn Stone three with 9:39 to play in the game, but Gardner-Webb got a layup from Christina Deng and another from Tiir Nyok with 7:53 left to go back in front for good.

Gardner-Webb clamped down on defense and led by as many as eight points before a late Cougars' flurry got the margin as close as two with less than 10 seconds to play. Bevis salted the game away at the free throw line.

Gardner-Webb shot 57 percent in the second half to fuel the win and forced 20 turnovers by Charleston. The Runnin' Bulldogs finished 30-of-62 overall from the floor (48.4 percent) and made 26 free throws in a tightly called game.

The Cougars shot 50.8 percent from the floor (32-of-63), but missed 12 free throws and gave up 46 points in the paint. Gardner-Webb also turned those 20 CofC turnovers into 19 points – and a +10 scoring edge.

Stone was the star scorer off the bench, netting 27 points in 32 minutes. Alexis Andrews added 18, Jaila Roberts scored 13 and Jada Logan had 12 for the Cougars.

Gardner-Webb will be back in action on Sunday afternoon, traveling to face Alabama at 3:00 pm in Tuscaloosa. The game will air live on ESPNCLT.com with Phil Constantino and will also stream on SEC Network+.