 "Photo: Bernard Upshaw")
The shooting woes continued Saturday night at The Coliseum for the University of West Georgia women’s basketball team as they lost to the North Alabama Lions 56-41. The Lady Wolves played hard in the opening period and looked competitive early, but the Lions poured it on in the second half, leaving West Georgia looking for answers.
“We played good enough on defense to win, rebounded good enough to win, and forced enough turnovers to win,” said UWG head coach Craig Roden. “Heck, we even made our free throws. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get anything else going tonight.”
This marks West Georgia’s second loss this season to North Alabama in a game eerily similar to the first. In both games, the Lady Wolves shot under 30% from the field, won the turnover battle, and hung around in the first half only to watch the Lady Lions pull away convincingly and win by at least 15 points.
“We are a different team when the shots are falling,” said Roden. “We have got to do the little things to get better offensively.”
North Alabama controlled the game from the opening tip, getting two quick three-pointers from sophomore forward Lacy Lewis, jumping out to an early 10-2 lead. The Lady Wolves answered with lay-ups from junior guards Thomassian Wyatt and Whitley Mayberry pulling within five of the Lady Lions at 18-13 with 3:04 remaining in the first half. One minute later, senior guard Renate Lopez knocked down a huge three-pointer pulling West Georgia within two, but North Alabama would get four more points from Lewis to close the half with a 22-16 lead.
West Georgia came out of the break flat and North Alabama extended their lead to 30-18 in the first five minutes of the second period. After Wyatt knocked down a three-pointer, junior forward Anelia Murray converted on a three-point play; but the Lady Lions answered with a 10-0 run giving them their largest lead of the night at 48-24. The Wolves refused to go away quietly as senior center Alexis Pace scored six points in less than a minute, and Mayberry scored six more points in the half. Unfortunately, it was too little – too late, as West Georgia would fall 56-41.
Whitley Mayberry finished the game with 12 points and 8 rebounds, leading the team in both categories. The Lady Wolves record falls to 8-14 and 1-5 in conference play. West Georgia will have plenty of time to regroup, as their next game will be February 13 on the road against GSC East conference foe West Florida.
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