CARROLLTON, Ga. - The UWG women's basketball team remained unbeaten at home this season, getting a wire-to-wire victory over Jacksonville, 74-59, on Saturday at The Coliseum.
West Georgia (10-5, 3-1 ASUN) never trailed in a huge win over Jacksonville (10-5, 2-2 ASUN), and had five players in double-figures.
"We just beat a very good basketball team and I'm very proud of our group," said head coach Joanna Reitz in her postgame press conference. "I thought we were really focused, and executed our defensive gameplan really well, and made them do things they don't normally do.
The Wolves were led by Sydne Tolbert with 19 points, while Grace O'Gara added 13, Destiny Jones had 12 in a double-double, and Asia Donald and Calie Thrower each had 10.
"I have a lot of respect for their program. They beat Georgia Tech this year and have a great record coming in here, so we knew it was going to be tough. I'm proud of our mental and physical toughness today," added Reitz.
UWG's home win streak was extended to nine dating back to the Senior Day win over Queens to close out 2024-25. It's the longest home win streak in the ASUN and ranks 25th amongst all Division I programs.
The Wolves jumped up 10-2 early in the contest before the Dolphins responded with a 7-0 run to send the game to its first media timeout at 10-9. By the end of the quarter, UWG had turned seven JU turnovers into 10 points and led 18-12.
In the second quarter, UWG shot 64 percent from the field and outscored the Dolphins 20-14, with the largest lead of 12 coming at the half after Gal-la Font beat the shot clock on the Wolves' final possession of the first half.
Three Wolves, Tolbert, O'Gara, and Thrower, each had eight points in the first half to score 24 of UWG's 38 points and the Wolves led 38-26 at the break.
JU started the second half on a 5-0 run, and not liking what she saw, Reitz called a timeout, and the Wolves immediately responded as Tolbert found O'Gara for a clean look and the junior buried the clutch shot.
"We had taken a couple of good shots that we missed, and they were able to get out and run and get in the paint and get fouled, and that is their M.O.," said Reitz, "So we needed to shut that down, and then offensively we have a lot of confidence in Syd with the basketball in her hands to make the right reads, and when the defense collapsed she found Grace who hit the shot."
From that point, the Dolphins chipped away, using pressure to create offense with their defense, but the Wolves hung in there and took the game to the final quarter with a 50-44 lead.
West Georgia closed it out in the final quarter, shooting 54 percent from the field in the final 10 minutes, and Asia Donald had five of her 10 points in the final quarter.
Destiny Jones had 13 rebounds to lead the Wolves while Tolbert's six assists was a game-high.
UWG will continue their home stand next Thursday, hosting Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday, January 15 at 7 p.m.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- UWG had a big advantage shooting free throws, converting 21-of-28 (75 percent) while JU was 21-35 (60 percent).
- It's the third game this season that UWG has had five or more double-digit scorers, and the second in three games.
- Destiny Jones' double-double was her third of the season and 12th of her career.
- JU entered the game ranked number 146 in the NET Rankings, marking the highest ranked win in the Division I era, besting the win over EKU in 2024-25 (172).
