DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Behind a season-high in points and field goal percentage, the UWG women's basketball team got a road win over a top-25 opponent on Tuesday night, defeating 24
th-ranked North Georgia Nighthawks, 98-90 in Dahlonega.
The Wolves (6-4, 2-4 GSC) shot 56.5 percent from the field on 35-of-62 shooting and poured 11 three-pointers against a North Georgia (7-3, 0-0 PBC) team that ranked 13
th in the country in three-pointers allowed.
"We found a way tonight," said head coach
Joanna Reitz following the Wolves' first win at North Georgia in 15 years. "We gave up 90 points, and we know that's not our best defensive effort, but we still found a way to beat a ranked opponent on the road."
Zuriyah Davis was sensational for a third consecutive game, finishing with a game-high 29 points, giving her three-straight games with 28 or more points.
"Her shot selection over the last two games has been so good, and she's really finding her spots, when to shoot and when to attack," Reitz said of her junior guard who leads the Gulf South Conference in scoring. "She's such a competitor, she puts the work in, and she's earned the right to take those shots."
Davis finished the game 10-of-16 from the field, hitting five three-pointers in the win.
UWG, the nation's leader in assists per game, dished out 23 assists on their 35 makes, led by freshman guard
Sydne Tolbert who tied a career-high with seven assists.
"Syd is so fast, she can get past anybody and she does a great job of beating her defender and getting the reads over the help side," Reitz said of the Louisville native who now has three games with seven assists this season. "She continues to get better and better, and she's just a freshman."
The first quarter featured as much as a six-point lead by the Nighthawks, and a five-point lead by the Wolves, who shot 10-of-15 from the field to open the game. But after the first 10 minutes, the Wolves led by a slim, 23-21 margin and were fueled by eight first quarter points from
Mykah Anderson and seven from Tolbert.
Neither team cooled off in the second quarter, in fact both teams heated up as North Georgia scored 30 points in the second quarter to take a four-point lead into the break. UNG got a six-point lead a little over midway through the second, only for
Anna Gernatt to hit back-to-back threes out of a UWG timeout to tie things back up 43-43. From there, UNG held a 49-47 lead until Kendall Emener's hook shot at the buzzer made it 51-47.
Davis scored nine points in the final 6:00 of the third quarter, helping UWG cut the deficit to 75-73 at the end of the period, and on UWG's first fourth quarter possession, she hit her third three-pointer of the game to give UWG their first lead since the second quarter.
West Georgia would never trail again, getting the lead to five before UNG tied things up at 82-82 and again at 84-84. From there, Davis buried a three, and the Nighthawks would get within two once more before the Wolves pulled away for the eight-point victory.
"Our team fought, and the stayed focused when things didn't go our way down the stretch, and finally in the fourth quarter we were able to pull ahead at the end, and I'm just proud of the focus and fight in our group," added Reitz.
Beyond Davis' performance, the Wolves got 14 points and nine rebounds from
Jada Powell who was a rebound shy of a sixth double-double, and Anderson finished with 14 as well.
Anna Gernatt hit three three-pointers and was 2-for-2 at the free throw line, finishing with 11 points.
Tolbert,
Aliyah Washington, and
K'Nari Holliday finished with nine points each while Holliday grabbed eight rebounds.
"We needed these wins. We've been knocking on the door but haven't been able to get over the hump, so to finish the semester with these two road wins against two good teams, and this gives us confidence and we're learning how to win in those big, close games," added Reitz. "And we earned a 3.64 team GPA this semester, so a lot to be proud of off the court as well."
The Wolves now enjoy a seven-day break before returning to practice after the Holiday break. UWG is back in Gulf South Conference action in their next game, traveling to Alabama Huntsville on December 30 for the final game of the 2023 calendar year.
