BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The West Georgia Wolves women's basketball Division I debut was spoiled by the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs on Monday night as the Wolves fell short 67-63 on the road to open the 2024-25 campaign.

On a night where West Georgia (0-1) struggled to shoot from long range, Gardner-Webb (1-0) never trailed in both teams' opening game of the season. The Wolves shot just 4-of-24 from beyond the arc and 9-of-17 from the free throw line in the loss.

West Georgia's first points as a Division I program came from freshman Destiny Jones, who finished with a team-high 11 points and nine rebounds in her very first college basketball game. Becca Ledford came off the bench in the early parts of the game and buried two quick three pointers, the second of which cut the Wolves' deficit to 10-9.

From there, the teams would trade baskets until the Bulldogs opened the second quarter on a 15-3 run and then led by nine at halftime.

Gardner-Webb outscored West Georgia 20-18 in the third quarter and with seven minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs led by 10 and West Georgia went to work chipping away at the deficit. Sydne Tolbert and Zuriyah Davis who scored 16 of UWG's 19 points in the final quarter were key in getting the Wolves within a bucket, as Tolbert's back-to-back jumpers within three minutes cut the GWU lead to just one.

After GWU extended their lead back to three, West Georgia had multiple looks to tie but could not get a bucket to fall and the Bulldogs would hold on for the season-opening win.

Along with Jones' team-high 11, Tolbert finished with 10 while Davis and K'Nari Holliday chipped in with nine. Holliday finished game one her junior season with eight rebounds. Grace O'Gara and Mynah Anderson led the Wolves in assists with three.

West Georgia is on the road on the weekend, traveling to Loyal Chicago for a 8 p.m. EST tipoff on Saturday, November 9.