CONWAY, S.C. - The Gardner-Webb women's basketball team (2-6, 0-0 Big South) took the court on Saturday afternoon at the Coastal Carolina Thanksgiving Tournament, falling 76-55 to Jackson State (2-5, 0-0 SWAC)
Gardner-Webb got off to one of its best offensive starts of the season on Saturday in Conway, jumping out to an 11-2 lead before the first media timeout. Two early threes would pace GWU early, with senior guard
Nyla Walker and junior guard
Amina Gray both hitting from deep inside the first five minutes. Jackson State responded with a 9-0 run over the timeout, extending into a 12-0 run into the second quarter and flipping the script to put the Dawgs behind 15-11
Walker and Gray continued to pace Gardner-Webb on offense, with the duo combining to score all 13 second quarter points for the Runnin' Bulldogs. Gray cashed in another triple in the final seconds, but Jackson State outscored GWU 25-13 in the second to lead 37-24 at the break
In the third quarter, Gardner-Webb got a couple other players going on offense, most notably freshman guard
Makayla Legette. The Latta, S.C. native got free for a nice layup and hit from distance in the opening minutes of the third to briefly bring the Runnin' Bulldogs back to within 12 at 42-30. Gardner-Webb scored three points over the final 6:43, all from the free throw line, as Jackson State took a 55-33 lead to the fourth
In the fourth, GWU was led by junior forward
Amira Ofunniyin who scored 10 of her team-high 14 points. The Runnin' Bulldogs as a whole had its best offensive frame of the game as far as total makes, going 9-for-20 from the deck in the fourth. Freshman guard
Kiarra Handley also featured in her first minutes of the season late in the contest, playing the final four minutes and scoring the first five points of her college career.
LEADERS
Ofunniyin and Walker led GWU with 14 points each, with Ofunniyin finishing with six rebounds and four steals, while Walker had three rebounds and three assists, Gray meanwhile finished the game with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists
UP NEXT
Gardner-Webb returns to action tomorrow, November 30th at 1 pm, finishing its stay in Conway with a true road matchup against hosts Coastal Carolina
