CARROLLTON, Ga. - The University of West Georgia's women's basketball team won a hard-fought 62-59 decision over the Montevallo Falcons on Wednesday night, earning first-year head coach Joanna Reitz her first career collegiate coaching victory.

West Georgia (1-2, 1-0 GSC) erased a halftime deficit on Wednesday night, opening their home slate and Gulf South Conference play with an extremely important victory that saw freshman forward Aliyah Washington score a game-high 21 points. 

"I am very proud of our players. They gutted it out and it was not pretty, but they just stuck with it and did it possession by possession by possession," said Reitz after seeing her team win for the first time in 2022-23. "They stayed together and didn't get frustrated when things didn't go our way and it was just a gutsy performance by our team."

Things didn't start well for the Wolves defensively, as Montevallo (0-4, 0-1 GSC) was red-hot, hitting five threes in the opening quarter, but the Wolves hung in there shot-for-shot and eventually led 23-22 after 10 minutes of play.

The Falcons eventually cooled off from long range, but a lot of that had to do with the adjustments made by Reitz and the Wolves.

"Montevallo did a good job in the first quarter finding some holes in our zone, and we missed a couple of rotations in transition," said Reitz. "Then we went man in the second quarter and they finished with eight, so three the rest of the way, that's not too bad."

In the second quarter, West Georgia scored just 11 points and Montevallo was able to take advantage, leading the majority of the period. A Peace Okeke layup late in the half would make it a one-point deficit, but Marisa Snodgrass scored two of her team-high 17 points with less than a minute left in the half for a three-point Montevallo lead at the break.

The quartet of Okeke, Washington, Stephanie Torres, and Sophia Singer led the Wolves in the third quarter, as UWG cut into the Montevallo lead. It was Singer's layup with 1:57 remaining in the period that made it a 47-46, UM advantage with 10 to play.

Maya Timberlake gave UWG their first lead since early in the second quarter when she hit a layup with just under eight minutes remaining in the contest. Montevallo answered right back with a three-pointer, but Washington would then convert an and-one play to put UWG up and the Wolves would never trail again in the contest.

Snodgrass got the Falcons back within one late in the game, and Timberlake hit a clutch jumper to once again make it a three-point game. UWG's man-to-man defense held strong as Montevallo would miss six three-pointer attempts to tie, and UWG earned the tough, conference victory.

Washington finished with the career-high 21 as well as eight rebounds and four steals in just her third career game.

"Aliyah is a great player and her instincts are good. She knows how to play and where to be," Reitz said of the freshman from Dallas, Georgia. " I'm just really, really proud of her efforts. She's always around the ball and that's a sign of a good player."

Okeke had a great night on the boards, grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds to go with her nine points. Torres had a double-digit scoring night, adding 14 to the cause.

UWG had the advantage on the glass with 41 rebounds to 39 from Montevallo. 

West Georgia now looks forward to Saturday when they welcome non-conference foe Clark Atlanta to The Coliseum.

"We'll learn from today's game, and then we start preparing for Clark," Reitz concluded. "We're excited because we've got these three games in a row at home. Clark Atlanta is a tough opponent, and their head coach is a West Georgia alum. They have a lot of returning players so it will be a good test for us."

Tip-time on Saturday is set for 12:00 p.m. from The Coliseum.