CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The UWG women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker on the road on Sunday afternoon, falling in overtime to the Western Carolina Catamounts, 81-76.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for West Georgia (4-4), who erased a 19-point deficit to force the overtime period. In the end, though, it was Western Carolina (6-4) who outscored UWG 11-6 in the extra five minutes, claiming the non-conference victory and snapping an impressive streak for the Wolves.
UWG was led by a career-high 24 points from freshman Destiny Jones who is averaging nearly 15 points per game over her last four. As a team, UWG shot 43.7 percent from the field, including seven three-pointers while also putting up a strong paint presence, outscoring the Catamounts 46-34 in the paint.
West Georgia led out of the gate as Zuriyah Davis buried a triple on the Wolves' opening possession, getting the scoring started just 10 seconds into the Sunday matinee.
From there, the Wolves would not trail until the midway point of the period when Western Carolina went up 10-9. WCU would lead by as much as six in the quarter, but the Wolves scored the final five points to trail by just one point after 10 minutes.
In the second, it was back and forth until the Catamounts used a 10-0 run to build a 10-point lead at a 32-22 margin with 3:15 remaining in the half.
West Georgia then closed the period on a 11-3 run, including once again the final five points before the half. Mykah Anderson and Destiny Jones combined for a key sequence to get those final five as Anderson hit a basket and drew the foul, but missed her foul shot. Jones got an offensive rebound and putback, drew another foul, and converted at the line to give the Wolves a five-point possession. UWG would trail 35-32 at the halftime break and were led by 13 first half points from Jones.
The Catamounts came out firing in the second half, shooting over 60 percent on their way to outscoring UWG 28-15 in the third quarter and building as much as a 19-point lead.
UWG's defense then clamped down, forcing 10 fourth quarter turnovers from WCU, and holding the Catamounts to just seven points in the period. The Wolves kept clawing back, eventually cutting the WCU lead to just two, 68-66, on an old-fashioned three-point play by Sydne Tolbert. Following a Mykah Andrson steal, Destiny Jones tied things up at 68-68, and things were tied up again 70-70 with three second left when UWG's attempt to win at the buzzer was no good, sending the game to overtime.
It was UWG's first overtime game in nearly three years, and the Catamounts scored the first two baskets of the period, and never looked back. The Wolves had a chance to tie the game with a three with under 30 seconds left, but the shot was no good and Western sealed the deal at the foul line.
Davis was the Wolves second-leading scorer with 14 points while Mykah Anderson finished with nine and a team-high seven rebounds while also leading in assists with five. Tolbert had a game-high five steals in the loss.
The free throw line was not kind to the Wolves as UWG shot just 7-of-13 from the charity stripe.
West Georgia now has over a week between their next action when they'll travel to Montgomery, Alabama for a December 18 contest at Alabama State.
