MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The first road trip of the 2023-24 campaign ended on a sour note on Thursday as the UWG women's basketball team suffered their first defeat of the season to the Christian Brothers Buccaneers, 61-50.
 
The Wolves (4-1, 1-1 GSC) were plagued with 28 turnovers on Thursday night, and couple that with their lowest field goal percentage of the season, and it was a tough night in Gulf South Conference play. Christian Brothers (1-6, 1-2 GSC) capitalized on UWG's mistakes, scoring 28 points off of turnovers.
 
West Georgia opened the game on a 7-2 run and led after the first quarter, 15-11, but coming out of the quarter break, CBU flipped the script and reclaimed a 19-15 win before K'Nari Holliday scored one of her six field goals on the night. UWG would lead the game at 22-21, but after CBU scored to retake the lead, the Wolves would never regain the lead.
 
Trailing 34-25 at the break, West Georgia would get within four at the 2:44 mark on another basket by Holliday, who went on to finish with a team-high 14 points and 10 rebounds for a third consecutive double-double. Neither team would score over the final two minutes of the period, and CBU led 44-38 after thirty minutes.
 
In the final frame, UWG began to chip away at the deficit, eventually getting within three at 51-48 on an Anna Gernatt three-pointer. The Wolves would get within three again on an Aliyah Washington layup with 3:53 remaining, and would then be held scoreless for the remainder of the game as the Bucs earned their first win of the season.
 
The Wolves had their lowest free throw percentage of the season at .476 (10-for-21).
 
Jada Powell, the GSC's leading rebounder, pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds in the loss. Behind Holliday's 14 points, the Wolves got 12 points from Zuriyah Davis.
 
UWG will now regroup and prepare for Sunday's showdown with nationally-ranked Union. Tip-time for that game is set for 2 p.m. from The Coliseum.