CARROLLTON, Ga.- The UWG women's basketball team moved to 6-1 at home on Wednesday after a 71-66 win over the Mississippi College Choctaws.
West Georgia shot 44.4% from the field and 80.6% (29-36) from the free throw line, propelling the Wolves to their third straight win at home.
"I'm so proud of the team because that was a gritty, gutsy win", said head coach Joanna Reitz. "This is our third game in five days, coming off of Christmas break, all conference games. That's a really tough schedule and our players gutted it out in the fourth. Our starters had to play a lot of minutes because the game was tight but they stayed locked in, hit shots and free throws when they were tired and when we needed them. Overall I'm just really proud of them."
UWG got off to a fairly quick start in the first quarter as a three-point play from Katelyn Dunning gave the Wolves a 5-0 lead, three minutes into the game. Mississippi would continue to struggle scoring before the Choctaws found their rhythm as they used an 12-4 run to take a three-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
Mississippi College got off to a quick start in the second quarter as the Choctaws extended their lead to five, courtesy of a three pointer from Kyiah Julian. Moments later, a Peace Okeke layup sparked a 7-0 run to give UWG a 25-23 lead with 1:34 left in the half. From there on, both teams scored a bucket each before Stephanie Torres buried a three at the buzzer to put the Wolves up 29-26, going into halftime.
West Georgia shot 38% from the field in the first half, while outrebounding Mississippi College by eight.
UWG immediately extended their lead to six out of the break after a layup from Sophia Singer until Mississippi College threw their counterpunch, by going on an 8-0 run to retake the lead halfway through the quarter. The two teams went back-and-forth before Okeke completely took over the quarter as the forward scored eight straight points for the Wolves, giving West Georgia a 48-40 lead heading into the final period.
Down eight to start the fourth quarter, Mississippi College got right back into the game as a layup from Dezirae King capped off a 13-7 run to cut the UWG lead to two with 4:28 left to play. With 41 seconds to play, Mississippi College tied the game at 61, until a massive three-point play from Torres put the Wolves right back up by three. West Georgia only needed one more stop to put the game away and was able to get it as the Wolves went on to win, 71-66.
Okeke led UWG offensively, scoring a team-high 18 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and collecting four blocks all while shooting 12-14 from the free throw line. Alongside Okeke, Torres finished with 15 points on 5-12 shooting.
West Georgia will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Cleveland, Mississippi for a 3:00 p.m. road matchup with Delta State.
