CLINTON, Miss. - The University of West Georgia women's basketball team kept their playoff hopes alive after a buzzer-beating layup by Aliyah Washington gave UWG a 65-63 win against Mississippi College Wednesday night.
"A win on the road in the conference is never easy, and I'm proud of the team," said head coach Joanna Reitz.
Freshman Aliyah Washington strengthened her case for GSC Freshman of the Year after scoring a UWG (12-15, 10-13 GSC) high 16 points in the win. Freshman point guard Katelyn Dunning chipped in 12 points, while senior forward Peace Okeke added 11, respectively.
Mississippi College (6-21, 5-19) was led by Taylor Ben who scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds in the Choctaw's final game of a tough season. Brett Gardner contributed 10 points alongside Dezirae King who also added 10 points in her final game in an MC uniform.
The Wolves and Choctaws went back and forth during the first quarter of Wednesday night's game. Sophia Singer got UWG going with a three to take a 3-2 lead with 8:42 remaining in the first. Mississippi College used a mini 4-0 run to regain the lead 6-3 at the 7:42 mark. Freshman Katelyn Dunning would soon tie the game with the Wolves' second three-pointer of the first quarter with 6:42 left in the first. Mississippi Colleges' Danielle Tennant would score on a layup to the Choctaws the lead again 8-6 with 4:14 left. Redshirt- Freshman Sara Viti would check into the game to give the Wolves a 9-8 lead again after knocking down a three. Tennant would go on to score three points to retake the lead for the Choctaws with only 2:00 minutes left in the first. Both teams would continue to trade baskets in the first with West Georgia taking a slight 17-15 lead heading into the second quarter.
Both teams started the second quarter trading baskets with the Wolves holding a slight 25-21 lead with 4:04 remaining. West Georgia would use a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 10 with 2:55 remaining in the first half. Both teams would score five more points, with UWG taking a 36-26 lead into the half.
The Wolves would extend their lead to 13 after an Aliyah Washington three-pointer at the 5:39 mark in the third. With just under 3:00 minutes left in the third, Mississippi College would use a 13-3 run to end the frame after a last-second shot from Ben cut the deficit to three, 50-47.
Sophia Singer got the fourth quarter going with an and-one layup to extend the UWG lead to six, 53-47 with 7:54 remaining. A layup by King and a three-pointer from Gardner helped the Choctaws cut the UWG lead to one with only 6:57 left in the game. Mississippi College would soon tie the game 56-56 after another layup from Gardner at the 2:26 mark. A Washington layup and Peace Okeke free-throw gave the Wolves the lead back 59-56 with just under 2:00 remaining. A two-point bucket from MC's Mya Bobo brought West Georgia's lead back to one 61-60 with only 58 seconds left. In the ensuing possession, UWG's Okeke sank two free-throws to give the Wolves a 63-60 lead. The following possession saw Mississippi Colleges' Gardner draw a foul on a three-point attempt and convert all three freebies with only three seconds remaining in the game. After a timeout by West Georgia, freshman Aliyah Washington made a huge layup to give the Wolves the game-winning score as time expired, winning 65-63.
"I just told them to get to the basket, that was the play," said Reitz "We got a little confusion from their end defensively and Aliyah saw a seam, made a great read, and scored. She's a great competitor and I feel very confident putting the ball into hands at the end of the game."
The Wolves won the battle slightly on the boards, outrebounding Mississippi College 35-33. West Georgia was 19-26 from the charity stripe.
"We just hung in there, we're young and that shows," added Reitz "We played hard, we stuck together through some tough moments in the second half, but we hung in there and found a way to win, and for a young team on the road, that builds a lot of confidence."
The Wolves wrap up the regular season at home on Saturday, February 25, against Delta State at 4:00 p.m.
