CLINTON, S.C. – All five starters scored in double figures to lead Gardner-Webb to an 82-56 win at Presbyterian Saturday afternoon.
The win was the 12th in a row for Gardner-Webb (20-4, 12-0 Big South) and allowed the Runnin' Bulldogs to open up a full four-game lead in the league standings with six to go.
Layken Cox scored a career-high 19 points,
Alasia Smith had 17 points and
Jhessyka Williams (14 points, 12 rebounds),
Ki'Ari Cain (12 points) and
Lauren Bevis (10 points) each hit double figures for an efficient GWU attack.
Gardner-Webb shot 51.6 percent from the floor (33-of-64), made 10-of-12 free throws (83.3 percent) and owned the hustle stats with 28 points off of 29 turnovers, 16 second-chance points and 18 steals.
Coach
Alex Simmons' squad averaged 1.079 points per possession and has led by at least 20 points in each of its last seven wins. Gardner-Webb has also topped the 80-point mark in four straight.
The Runnin' Bulldogs led 23-8 after a quick first quarter and led 45-27 at the half. Gardner-Webb blitzed its way to a 23-11 edge in the third quarter to put the game on ice. Presbyterian scored the game's final six points to get the lead back under 30.
The Blue Hose shot 38.8 percent from the floor (19-for-49) and made just 2-of-15 from long range (13.3 percent).
Bryanna Brady led Presbyterian with 20 points.
Gardner-Webb is back in action on Wednesday, hosting Radford at 7:00 pm in Paul Porter Arena. The game will stream live on ESPN+ (WatchESPN.com) and air on ESPNCLT.com.