BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. –
Lauren Bevis became the Division I era career leader in made three-pointers, leading Gardner-Webb to a 74-54 win over Winthrop Saturday afternoon.
Bevis drained 5-of-12 shots from deep to finish the game with 213 career threes, passing former Runnin' Bulldogs sharpshooter Jasmine Dale (210) for the new school mark. Vaida Turauskaite is the overall career record holder at Gardner-Webb, knocking down 272 threes from 1997-2001.
Her 19 points led four women in double figures, as Gardner-Webb (16-4, 8-0 Big South) shook off a sluggish first quarter to steadily put the game out of reach against the Eagles (3-15, 1-6 Big South).
Layken Cox finished with 15 points and seven rebounds,
Jhessyka Williams overcame foul trouble to score 12 points and pull down 11 rebounds – and
Alasia Smith also had a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards for the Runnin' Bulldogs. Smith needs only nine more points to reach 1,000 points for her career in Boiling Springs.
Ki'ari Cain had six points and 10 assists in the win, as Gardner-Webb assisted on an efficient 20 of its 29 made baskets.
Gardner-Webb used a 12-2 run to take a 30-19 lead by the end of the first quarter, with
Micahla Funderburk draining a pair of threes in that spurt. Funderburk finished the game with nine points.
The Runnin' Bulldogs shot 43.3 percent for the game (29-of-67) and made 12 threes (12-of-33, 36.4 percent) – but got to the free throw line only five times. GWU owned a 48-28 edge on the backboards and held Winthrop to 37.0 percent shooting from the floor.
The Eagles were led by Shamyjha Price's 18 points. Paige Powell added 14 points and Leonor Paisana scored 12.
Gardner-Webb did not trail in the game.
The Runnin' Bulldogs will close out the first half of the Big South Conference season on Wednesday night, traveling to face second-place USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C. The Spartans (8-10, 5-2 Big South) topped UNC Asheville on Saturday.
Opening tip for Wednesday's game is set for 7 pm (ESPN+). Jon Gross will have the radio call on ESPNCLT.com
