Carrollton, GA- The University of West Georgia women's basketball team earned its first win of the season in dominant fashion, rolling past Gardner-Webb 91–68 on Saturday at The Coliseum.
West Georgia's (1-1, 0-0 ASUN) Jasmine Jones, Asia Donald, and Sydne Tolbert put on a scoring clinic, combining for 72 points outscoring Gardner-Webb (0-2, 0-0 Big South) on their own as the Wolves cruised to victory. Jones led the charge with a game-high 32 points, shooting an impressive 61% from the field. Donald followed with a career-high 22 points on an efficient 50% shooting night, while Tolbert rounded out the trio's dominant performance with 20 points, five assists, and a blistering 71% from the floor.
"Great first home win, I'm really proud of our team's resilience" said head coach Joanna Reitz following the victory. "We didn't start out great in the first quarter it took us a little bit of time to get settled in, but once we settled in offensively we did what we needed to do."
The Wolves got off to a slow start in the first quarter, shooting just 5-for-20 from the field and falling behind 17–9 early. But West Georgia found its rhythm late in the period, sparking an 8-3 run with 2:51 remaining. Grace O'Gara and Destiny Jones helped swing the momentum with key contributions, to cut the deficit to just three points as the Wolves trailed 20–17 at the end of the quarter.
Building on the momentum from the first quarter, West Georgia came out strong in the second, quickly tying the game at 22–22. Asia Donald then took over, scoring six straight points to give the Wolves a 28–22 lead. Shooting an impressive 60% from the field as a team in the quarter, UWG began to pull away as Anya Mckenzie and J.Jones added back-to-back points in the paint. The Wolves' offensive surge helped them stretch their advantage to 35–24 before heading into halftime with a 38–29 lead.
Even early in the season, the second half has been a strength for the Wolves' offense and that trend continued today. Coming out firing on all cylinders, J.Jones knocked down back-to-back threes from deep, while Donald added a pair of baskets to stretch the lead to 13. Tolbert joined the surge as well, dishing out several assists and contributing a few key baskets of her own. The trio continued to find their rhythm, attacking the defense with ease and extending West Georgia's lead to 57–46 heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was pure domination, as the Wolves exploded for 34 points in the final period. Jasmine Jones stayed red-hot from beyond the arc, knocking down two more threes to cap off an incredible shooting performance. "Jasmine was shooting the ball really well, we needed those shots and the team did a great job feeding the hot hand" said Reitz. Her eight triples on the night tied the school record for most three-pointers in a single game. West Georgia was locked in on both ends of the floor, slowing down Gardner-Webb's offense and holding the Bulldogs to just 35% shooting in the quarter. The Wolves closed out the game in commanding fashion, shutting down GWU the rest of the way to secure their first win of the season, 91–68.
As a team, the Wolves shot an impressive 46% (29–62) from the field and nearly 40% (11–28) from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs finished the night shooting 40% (22–55) overall and matched that mark from three-point range.
West Georgia is set to take the court again on Thursday, November 13, when the Wolves host Alabama State at The Coliseum. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.