BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Women's Basketball completed their perfect 18-0 season in Big South play as they defeated USC Upstate 83-58 on Senior Day. With the win, there has never been a team to complete a Big South conference schedule with the mark of 18-0 until GWU did this season.
Lauren Bevis adn
Jhessyka Williams led them to the win today as Bevis finished with 30 points andWilliams had 28
Prior to the game, Gardner-Webb recognized their seven seniors for their contributions to the program over the past seasons. Among those recognized were
Ki'Ari Cain, Bevis,
L'Mia Littlejohn,
Sarah Matthews,
Christina Deng,
Grace Knutsen, and Williams.
The Runnin' Bulldogs got out to an early 23-13 lead after the first quarter courtesy of a pair of 6-0 scoring spurts. GWU clamped down on defense as USC Upstate made 1-11 (9.1%) attempts from deep as well as 7-28 (25%) from the floor during the opening half while turning it over 13 times. During the second quarter the Spartans only converted on a pair of field goals during the ten-minute period. Gardner-Webb held a 33-22 advantage going into the halftime break.
Gardner-Webb continued to stretch out their lead over the second half off strong offensive play as the team scored 50 points during the second 20 minutes of action. Bevis sizzled the bottom of the nets as she hit on five of her shots from deep.
The Runnin' Bulldogs went on to outscore the Spartans 50-37 in the second half. Bevis finished the afternoon leading all scorers with 30 points with Williams right behind at 28.
Layken Cox also finished in double figures as she had ten points to close the regular season. Williams finished a rebound shy of another double-double as she had nine.
Alasia Smith also had a great game on the glass as she had six boards and led the team in blocks as she swatted away three shots. Cain led the team in assists as she dished four. Williams and Smith each had three steals during the game as well.
As a team, GWU shot 29-56 (51.8%) from the floor and went 8-20 (40%) from deep and hit on 17 attempts from the charity stripe. GWU held the Spartans to 19-53 (35.8%) from the floor.
The Spartans turned the ball over 22 times during the action while GWU did just 13 times. Gardner-Webb outscored USC Upstate in points off turnovers 23-8.
Gardner-Webb will compete in the Big South Tournament starting next week as the #1 seed. Gardner-Webb will have their first game on Thursday, March 2 competing in the quarterfinals of the event against the winner of the #8/9 game on Wednesday. The seedings for the event will be released later this evening once the regular season has ended.
