CARROLLTON, Ga. - It was another historic night for the University of West Georgia as the Wolves' women's basketball team produced the first Division I basketball victory on Wednesday night, knocking off Florida A&M by a 65-54 tally in the 2024-25 home opener.
West Georgia (1-3) never trailed in the historic win, leading Florida A&M (0-5)Â wire-to-wire in a defensive battle and physical contest that featured 46 combined fouls called and 45 combined turnovers.
"It was a gritty win. Our team is tough, and we've known that, but it showed tonight," said a drenched head coach Joanna Reitz following a raucous locker room celebration. "It was an ugly game, but good teams find ways to win ugly, and we did that. These are big moments, and sometimes as coaches it's hard not to nitpick at what went wrong in a game, but we found a way, and I'm proud of them."
Despite leading the game wire-to-wire, West Georgia only led by as much as 12 in the hard-fought win and shot 38 percent from the field, but the difference was a big night at the free throw line, finishing 21-of-27 while FAMU was 15-of-22.Â
"I'm proud of our effort at the free throw line, that's something we struggled with, and something that we've worked on and they stepped up and answered the call tonight," Reitz added. "And our half court defense continues to be really strong."
The Wolves held the Rattlers to just 39.6 percent from the field and 1-for-11 from distance while forcing 28 turnovers.
Out of the gates, West Georgia built an early 10-point lead behind two quick three-pointers from Becca Ledford and buckets from Mynah Anderson, Zuriyahb Davis, and Sydney Tolbert. By the end of the opening quarter, the lead was at eight, but FAMU would start the second on an 6-0 run to get it back to two. FAMU would get it to two once more right before the halftime break, but a three from Tolbert with 13 ticks remaining made it a five-point lead at the half.
The third quarter was a back-and-forth affair with neither team getting much momentum, but UWG outscored the visitors 18-16 in the period and led 47-40 after three.
Davis, who led the Wolves with 15 points, scored the first six points of the final period to give UWG it's largest lead at 52-40 with 6:44 remaining. West Georgia's lead never got less than six over the final minutes of the game with UWG converting eight straight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Ledford, who hit three threes in the game, finished with a career-high 13 points in the first home game of her junior season.
"Becca came off the bench and hit those two big threes early, and we all exhaled," Reitz said of Ledford. "She played great minutes off the bench for us, 22 minutes, 4-for-7, the 13 points and zero turnovers. You can't ask for more than that."
The trio of K'Nari Holliday, Grace O'Gara, and Tolbert each finished with nine while Holliday's six rebounds tied Destiny Jones for the team-high. All of O'Gara's points came ate the free throw line and the sophomore guard had a game-high four assists.
West Georgia will be home for two games to close out the three-game homestand, looking to build after the historic win.
"We want to keep this momentum going," Reitz concluded. "We've got some tough practices ahead because we've got some stuff to clean up, but our team is together, they're tough, they're fighters. We're going to celebrate tonight, but back to work tomorrow."
The Wolves' next action is Tuesday, November 26 as UWG hosts Talladega in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off from The Coliseum.
