BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb put its foot on the gas in the second quarter and raced to an 97-63 win over Charleston Southern to push its win streak to 11 games.
The Runnin' Bulldogs (19-4, 11-0 Big South) led by as many as 37 points Wednesday night to complete their season sweep of the Buccaneers (4-18, 2-9 Big South). The 97 points scored by GWU marked a new season high.
Gardner-Webb led by only two points, 22-20, after the first 10 minutes, but rolled in the second quarter – closing on a sizzling 20-3 run to lead 51-27 at halftime.
The lead remained comfortable the rest of the way.
Jhessyka Williams and
Ki'Ari Cain each scored 19 points,
Lauren Bevis had 17 and
Alasia Smith scored 10 to lead the way.
Micahla Funderburk had eight points off the bench and
Christina Deng scored seven tough points inside for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Gardner-Webb shot an even 50.0 percent for the game (34-of-68) and made 13-of-31 from long distance (41.9 percent). The Runnin' Bulldogs have led by at least 20 points in each of its last six wins to open up a three-game lead in the Big South regular season race.
The Runnin' Bulldogs averaged an impressive 1.276 points per possession Wednesday and led for nearly 38 minutes – scoring 36 points off of 29 CSU turnovers.
Charleston Southern shot just 37.9 percent from the floor (22-of-58) and 5-of-19 from three in the game. Kennedi Jackson led the Buccaneers with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
Gardner-Webb will hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Presbyterian for a 2:00 pm showdown in Clinton, S.C. (ESPN+).