BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb University women's basketball team (6-12, 3-3 Big South) had one of its best shooting performances of the season on Saturday afternoon, then pulled away just far enough in the second half to take a 79-73 conference win over USC Upstate (4-14, 1-4 Big South)

The Runnin' Bulldogs were nearly lights-out to open the game on Saturday afternoon inside Paul Porter Arena, shooting 8-of-17 from the field, knocking down three shots from distance, and scoring 22 first quarter points. Despite an early six-point lead by the visiting Spartans, the Runnin' Bulldogs would find a spark via junior guard Nyla Walker, whose timely shooting brought the Red and Black back. Walker canned two triples within 56 seconds of each other late in the first to cap a stretch of eight points in a row. After 10 minutes, GWU led 22-20.

Into the second quarter where Gardner-Webb was able to open as big as an eight point lead before eventually taking an advantage into the halftime break. The Runnin' Bulldogs were again showing off the range inside the first two minutes of the second, with graduate forward Elze Motekaityte and sophomore guard Lauren Bailey going back-to-back from long range to put GWU in front 28-20. While the Spartans did battle back for a brief tie, sophomore guard Elle Blatchford assured GWU a halftime lead by hitting the 'Dawgs fifth three of the frame with 2:06 to play. At the half, the Runnin' Bulldogs led 39-37

The third quarter saw the Runnin' Bulldogs turn to defense. USC Upstate managed just 11 points in the quarter while shooting just 3-of-14 from the deck, allowing Gardner-Webb to work in transition. Senior guard Ashley Hawkins began to emerge just after halftime, with a steal and an unassisted finish on the other end to give GWU a 41-37 lead with 9:04 to play. Hawkins continued to make big plays later, including her first three with 4:42 to play in the frame that put GWU up 49-46. When Motekaityte beat the third quarter buzzer, the 'Dawgs had a 57-48 lead to work with over the final 10 minutes.

And work with that lead is what the Red and Black would do, as USC Upstate came no closer than three points for the duration of the fourth quarter. Working with a 70-66 lead with 1:57 remaining, the 'Dawgs finished the game with nine made free throws to salt the game away. Bailey and Hawkins again hit from three early on in the stanza, bringing the Runnin' Bulldogs to a season-best 12 makes and crushing any chance of a USC Upstate comeback.

Leaders for Gardner-Webb include Hawkins who finished just shy of a triple-double with 16 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, Bailey who followed a career-night against Radford with 14 points, Motekaityte who finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, and Walker who poured in a season-best 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting. For the game, the Runnin' Bulldogs finished 12-of-36 from three including 5-of-10 just in the second quarter alone.

The 'Dawgs are back in action on Wednesday night, January 22nd, returning to the road to face UNC Asheville. Wednesday night's clash will be streamed live on ESPN Plus, in addition to a local television broadcast on the CW.