CARROLLTON, Ga. - The UWG women's basketball team got a crucial Atlantic Sun Conference victory on Wednesday night, defeating the Austin Peay Governors 70-57 at The Coliseum.
It was a second straight conference victory for West Georgia (10-14, 4-9 ASUN), accomplishing that feat for the first time as a Division I program while handing Austin Peay (10-14, 5-8 ASUN) their sixth consecutive loss.
"I think February is about toughness, and we have tough players," said head coach Joanna Reitz, "They're physically tough, they're mentally tough, and I think this is the time of the year that teams either fold or fight, and our group is showing up every day ready to work. And tonight was a great win against a good team."
The Wolves indeed showed up to fight on Wednesday night, put three players in double figures, shooting over 50 percent from the field, and out rebounding the Governors 35-25.
Junior guard Becca Ledford was 3-for-3 from three-point range, and scored a career-high 15 to lead West Georgia.
"She's shooting the ball with a lot of confidence right now," Reitz said of the Blue Ridge, GA native who is a combined 6-for-7 from three in the Wolves' back-to-back wins. "She knows where the shots are going to be and that's who she is. She plays like that every day, so we're not surprised by those stats. She puts the work in to put herself in position and she's doing her great job."
Both offense were sluggish out of the gates however as APSU led 6-4 at the first media timeout, but by the end of the period, the Govs led 16-14. The first 10-plus minutes of the game featured six lead changes, but a Ledford three followed by a Destiny Jones put-back on the next possession gave UWG a 17-16 lead with 8:32 remaining in the half, and the Wolves never looked back.
West Georgia went up by as much as nine in the second half, but the Govs got it back to a five-point deficit before Zuriyah Davis hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Wolves an eight-point halftime lead.
"Zee hit that huge shot right before halftime, and we needed that because we had gotten a little stagnant, but she gave us that lift when we really needed it," Reitz said of Davis' buzzer beater.
In the second half, UWG got out to as much as a 14-point lead before the Govs closed the third on a 7-0 run to make it a 59-52 UWG lead with one quarter to play.
APSU opened the final period by extending the run to 9-0 and cutting West Georgia's lead to three before both offenses sputtered with turnover issues for a spell. From the 6:03 mark to the 3:10 mark, UWG answered with a 7-0 run and stretched the lead back to double-digits.
In that span, freshman Destiny Jones eclipsed double-figures in points and rebounds to record her sixth double-double of the season.
"Des is capable of that night in and night out. She's tough, resilient, quick, and strong. She's a great teammate and a hard worker and just stays with it," Reitz said of her freshman forward, "She got some big rebounds for us when our offense was a little sputtery and she did a great job."
In a head-to-head matchup with fellow freshman Sa'Mya Wyatt, Jones had 12 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes of action while Wyatt had six points and five rebounds in 36 minutes, solidifying her case for ASUN Freshman of the Year.
Both Wyatt and Jones have combined for seven of the possible 14 Freshmen of the Week honors thus far in the season.
"There's no question who the best freshman in the league is," said Reitz. "And Wyatt is a great player, and we put a lot of attention on Wyatt tonight out of respect, but Des definitely showed out tonight."
Down the stretch, UWG used the free throw line to put it away, shooting 5-of-6 from the stripe in the final quarter to finish 12-of-15 for the game while APSU went to the line just four times all night.
Along with Jones and Ledford in double figures was junior K'Nari Hollday who had 14 points and six rebounds. Zuriyah Davis and Amanda Blake finished with nine each while Mykah Anderson had eight.
UWG now sets their sights on the second matchup of the season with former GSC rival North Alabama.
"It was definitely a tale of two halves up there, and we've been looking forward to this game and we'll be ready for it," said Reitz. "But they're tough, their point guard is elite and so it's a great matchup and it will be a great game."
Tip-off against the Lions is set for 2 p.m. from The Coliseum on Saturday, February 15.
