CARROLLTON, Ga. - An incredible made bucket and a free throw from Grace O'Gara sent the UWG women's basketball team into the postseason as winners of two straight as the Wolves knocked off Queens, 64-63, in a Senior Day victory on Saturday.
Trailing 63-61 with 4.5 seconds left, West Georgia (13-16, 7-11 ASUN) and head coach Joanna Reitz turned to Grace O'Gara who drew a foul, converted the shot, and buried the free throw to lift the Wolves over Queens (10-19, 4-14 ASUN).
"She has ice in her veins," Reitz said of the sophomore O'Gara. "I knew she was going to hit that shot. She's as tough as they come as a basketball player and mentally as a point guard. She's built for moments like that, and man, we needed that."
It wasn't West Georgia's best performance, but the Wolves did just enough to power past the Royals in the regular season finale.
The Wolves shot just 33.3 percent from the field, only made two three-pointers, and turned it over 18 times, but the Wolves were strong at the free throw line in an extremely physical game that featured 43 combined fouls.
"I'm really proud of our effort at the free throw line," Reitz said postgame, "That's been somewhere we've been inconsistent in throughout the year, and we needed everyone of those tonight, because we were having trouble with our execution."
At the line, UWG finished 26-of-31 (83.9 percent) with O'Gara, and Zuriyah Davis combining to go 12-of-12 at the line. West Georgia also stayed physical on the boards, outrebounding the Royals 43 to 29 and pulled down 17 offensive rebounds.
Freshman Destiny Jones, who chipped in with a 7-of-8 mark at the free throw line, made history early in the game as her second rebound gave her 221 on the year, setting a UWG record for most rebounds by a true freshman. It broke a record previously set by Karen Garrett in 1981.
"It's the same we keep talking about this group. They're tough, they're resilient, and gritty," Reitz added, "That was a frustrating game. We didn't play well on either end of the floor, but we never gave up, and we never gave in, and just hung in and kept fighting."
West Georgia led for the majority of the first half, with Queens first lead coming at the 1:09 mark of the second quarter.
Sydne Tolbert scored the final two baskets of the first half to give UWG a one-point lead. The Wolves wrapped up the regular season going 10-2 when leading at halftime.
Conversely, the Royals scored the opening basket of the third quarter, and led for the remainder of the period, and then led by as much as eight and was up seven with 3:22 remaining. That's when the Wolves went on an 8-0 run to take a 60-59 lead thanks to two free throws from O'Gara with 14 seconds left.
Queens responded with an and-one play with nine ticks left that put them up two, and Becca Ledford then cut it to one with a free throw. The lead got back to two as Queens missed the front end of their foul shots, and that's when the Wolves called their final timeout to advance it past half court, and set up O'Gara's heroics.
Three Wolves finished in double-figures, led by Destiny Jones with 13 and Tolbert and O'Gara fininshing with 10. K'Nari Holliday had 11 rebounds, and just missed out on a double-double with nine points.
West Georgia now awaits results from around the league on Saturday to find their opening round matchup of the ASUN Tournament. The Tournament begins on Friday, March 7.
