The UWF women’s basketball team suffered a 74-70 defeat at Auburn Montgomery in the first round of the Gulf South Conference Championship at the AUM Gymnasium on Tuesday.
UWF was unable to stop AUM from taking advantage of turnovers and offensive rebounds. The Warhawks scored 23 points off 14 turnovers and gained extra possessions with 13 offensive caroms that they scored 16 points from.
UWF (16-13) shot 47 percent and made nine 3-pointers, with three each from Moriah Taylor and Shania Johnson. Claire Sutherland-Case led the team with 16 points and 13 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Tyashia Bostick had 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
AUM (20-9) got a career-high 28 from Grace O’Gara who had 19 at the half. Tian Addison had 13 and Allasha Dudley added 12.
UWF came out on fire, hitting its first six shots while building a 17-7 lead. But AUM turned up the defensive pressure and turned defense into offense, pulling within 17-15 with eight-consecutive points. The Warhawks led 25-22 at the end of the first quarter.
O’Gara scored 13 of AUM’s 20 points in the second period to keep the home team ahead. The Warhawks led by eight early in the second before taking a 45-39 lead into the locker room.
AUM hit two threes to open the second half, extending its lead to 12. UWF continued to battle and thanks to all three of Taylor’s triples, pulled with 55-52 midway through the 3rd.
The Argos used an 8-0 run in the fourth to pull within 66-64 at the 5:00 mark. A Bostick try from the top of the key cut the deficit to 71-70 2:03 remaining. Neither team was able to score until the final minute when Dudley drove down the right side of the lane and got a layup to fall with 17.1 on the clock.
On the ensuing possession, UWF had 3-point looks from Bostick and Sutherland-Case bounce off the rim before AUM got the final rebound and ice it with a free throw in the final second.
Feature photo credit: UWF