CHARLOTTE – No. 1 Gardner-Webb raced past No. 8 UNC Asheville in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Hercules Tires Big South Tournament on Thursday for their 19^th consecutive win. The final score for the matchup stood at 82-58 with GWU to face the winner of Radford/Presbyterian on Saturday.
 
The teams traded the lead a couple of times early during the action, but the Runnin' Bulldogs took an 8-7 lead back from UNCA four minutes into the game. GWU used a late scoring stretch to take a 24-16 lead into the first quarter break.
 
Gardner-Webb continued their success in the second quarter as they brought their lead to 15 during the after a Lauren Bevis three-pointer. The Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run to close the half and have the score at 36-27. Gardner-Webb forced 17 turnovers from Asheville in the opening 20 minutes of action.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs continued to keep the pressure up in the second half and were able to stretch the lead out to as many as 25 in the closing minutes of the afternoon.
 
Jhessyka Williams finished with a game-high 26 points to go along with seven boards, four assists, and three steals. Alasia Smith pulled down 16 boards and tallied 16 points for her 11th double-double this year.

Smith also had four steals to continue her defensive dominance from the regular season.

Ki'Ari Cain was the third double-digit scorer for GWU as scored 11 points and led all players as she dished six assists to along with three steals. Christina Deng came off the bench to score eight points and had five rebounds to go along with a steal and block.
 
As a team, GWU Shot 45% (29-64) from the floor and hit on eight of their shots from deep. Gardner-Webb won the turnover battle 28-18 while scoring 27 points off the UNCA turnovers as well. The Bulldogs went 40% (22-55) from the floor and 33% (6-18) from deep.
 
Gardner-Webb will be back in action on Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. to play in the Semifinals of the Tournament.