CARROLLTON, Ga. - Despite leading for a huge majority of the contest, the UWG women's basketball team lost in a heartbreaking, overtime game on Saturday, falling 83-73 to the Lipscomb Bisons.
West Georgia (7-8, 1-3 ASUN) led all the up until late in the final quarter before Liscomb (10-5, 3-1 ASUN) roared back to force overtime. The Bisons then outscored UWG 17-7 in the extra period.
Sophomore guard Sydne Tolbert led UWG with a career-high 21 points on 6-of-15 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Tolbert also had a career-high eight rebounds in the loss.
In the end, foul trouble hurt the Wolves, as did 19 turnovers and cold shooting in the final period. West Georgia dominated the glass, out rebounding the Bisons 46-34 including 22 offensive rebounds that led to a 21-6 advantage in second chance points.
Lipscomb's offense came out cold, starting 1-for-9 from the field and 0-for-7 from three-point land. Meanwhile, UWG's offense built an early lead, shooting 50 percent in the opening quarter and led 18-9 after the opening quarter.
K'nari Holliday, who along with Tolbert combined to score half of UWG's first half points, hit a basket at the 6:45 mark to extend UWG's lead to double-digits for the first time. Lipscomb heated up from that point, cutting it to a one-point game with under a minute to go in the half. Holliday answered with eight ticks left, during a three-pointer to give UWG a four-point, 28-24 halftime lead.
Both teams were hot in the third quarter, trading basket for basket, but the Wolves edged out the Bisons 23-21 in the period and led by as much as 13 in the back half of the quarter.
Lipscomb's offense then took it to a new level, shooting over 60 percent the rest of the way, taking their first lead of the game at the 3:45. The Wolves got a huge bucket from Zuriyah Davis with 18 seconds left to go up 66-64, and then gave up a game-tying basket with six seconds left as Claira McGowan tied it up for the Bisons. UWG would not get a good look at a potential game winner to send the game to overtime.
The Bisons were 5-of-8 from the floor including a pair of triples in the extra frame while UWG shot just 1-of-7 in overtime.
Three other Wolves joined Tolbert in double-figures with Mykah Anderson scoring 12, and Zuriyah Davis and K'Nari Holliday adding 11.
Lipscomb was led by the duo of Bella Vinson who had 27 and McGowan who had 24.
The Wolves are now 0-2 this season in overtime games and the loss snaps a 10-game home winning streak that dated back to the 2023-24 season.
West Georgia is home again next week for a pair of games, beginning with the Bellarmine Knights on January 16 at 7 p.m.
