CARROLLTON, Ga. - On a night where the UWG women's basketball team needed a big win, four Wolves scored in double-figures and Aliyah Washington led all scorers with 21 as the Wolves defeated Mississippi College, 69-49 in the final Division II home game in program history.
West Georgia (16-11, 12-11 GSC) dominated the glass and held Mississippi College (13-14, 12-12 GSC) to their seventh lowest scoring output of the season.
"We didn't feel like we played our best game at Mississippi College, so we kind of had a chip on our shoulder to come out and show them who we are," said head coach Joanna Reitz. "I thought we were focused defensively, and we took away what they were trying to do, so I was really proud of our effort."
Behind Washington, the Wolves got 15 from K'Nari Holliday who had her eighth double-double with 11 rebounds. Zuriyah Davis chipped in with 14 and Jada Powell had 11. For Washington, it was her first 20-point game since February of 2023.
"Aliyah has that in her. I loved her explosiveness tonight and she did a great job picking her spots and I thought she took great shots," Reitz said of the sophomore's performance. "You know, Zee (Davis) has had big nights, and K'Nari's had big nights, so Aliyah was due one, and she's put the work in to earn that."
Neither team raced out to a big lead in the opening quarter, with the Choctaws leading 14-11 after 10 minutes. West Georgia turned up the full court pressure in the second and started the quarter on a 5-0 run, and by the media timeout led 22-17.
The Wolves outscored MC 20-9 in the second quarter and forced the Choctaws into eight second quarter turnovers. A K'Nari Holliday free throw with 1:41 left in the quarter made it an eight-point game and that was the halftime margin at 31-23.
An Aliyah Washington layup right out of the gate firs stretched the lead to double-figures for UWG, and the Wolves would lead by as much as 13 in the quarter, but it was Jada Powell's layup at the buzzer that made it a 12-point, 46-34 lead headed to the final 10 minutes.
Over the final quarter, UWG's lead never dipped below 12 points as the Wolves earned their 12th conference win, besting their total from a season ago of 11.
West Georgia had 42 rebounds as a team, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and turning that into 18 second chance points. Holliday led the way with 11, but the Wolves had a trio: Washington, Powell, and Katelyn Dunning, with seven each.
"I loved our determination on the boards. We won the boards by 15 and had 18 offensive rebounds," Reitz added.
With the win, UWG keeps the postseason push alive, and will put it all on the line Saturday in the season finale at Delta State.
"We know the task at hand. Delta State, similarly to Mississippi College, we didn't feel like we played our best game against them at home, and that's stuck with us," Reitz noted. "I know that we'll be focused and ready come Saturday. We're playing together and there's a toughness about us that maybe we didn't have the first time we played them."
Tip-time for Saturday's finale is set for 3 p.m. EST in Cleveland, Mississippi.
