No. 4 UNC Asheville Tops No. 5 Gardner-Webb, Advances to Semifinals
Behind a dominating third quarter, the UNC Asheville women's basketball team claimed a 16-point win over No. 5 Gardner-Webb, 72-56, to advance to the semifinal round of the Big South Conference Tournament on Thursday inside the Dedmon Center.
The Bulldogs will face No. 1 seed and host Radford on Friday, March 15 at 6 p.m. inside the Dedmon Center.
Gardner-Webb jumped out to a hot start, as it saw its biggest lead of the game come at the 5:26 mark in the first quarter (9-0). UNC Asheville started to trim away at the deficit but found themselves down by eight at the end of the first quarter, 22-14.
Asheville carried that momentum into the second quarter, as it held the Runnin' Bulldogs to just six points. Asheville tallied 11 points to make it only a three-point game at the halftime break, 28-25. Overall, the UNC Asheville defense limited GWU to just three made field goals in the 10-minute session.
At the 15-minute break, Jessica Wall had a team-high eight points on 3-for-5 shooting. Two of those field goals were three-pointers. Zip Scott and Sonora Dengokl added five points each in the first 20 minutes of play.
Asheville tallied 28 points in the third quarter, as it gained its first lead of the game at the 6:05 mark (34-31) thanks to a Wall three-pointer. The Bulldogs ended the stanza on a 16-4 run beginning at the 2:31 mark to carry a 53-41 lead into the fourth quarter.
Nadiria Evans, who only had two points in the first half, posted nine points in the third quarter, as she went a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and connected on three free throws. Wall was right behind her teammate, as she made two three-pointers, and Brooke Jordan-Brown made a presence in the paint, as she netted six points and grabbed five rebounds in the 10-minute quarter.
Up 12 points, UNC Asheville closed the game by outscoring the Runnin' Bulldogs by four points, 19-15. GWU could only trim the deficit to 12 points in the third quarter, but Asheville continued to score and sealed the 16-point win over the Runnin' Bulldogs, 72-56.
Evans was nearly unstoppable in the second half, as she netted 17 total points in the final 20 minutes of action. She made five field goals and converted on seven free throws.
Three Bulldogs finished the quarterfinal game in double figures - Evans, Wall and Scott.
Evans totaled 19 points in the game, as she converted on six made field goals and seven free throws. The sophomore guard added six rebounds and a steal in 22 minutes off the bench.
Wall also made six field goals, as four were three-pointers. The Chapel Hill, N.C. native grabbed four rebounds and tallied five assists.
Scott contributed 10 points in the postseason game, as she connected on four field goals and grabbed five defensive rebounds.
Jordan-Brown also had a strong performance, as the center totaled nine points on 4-for-5 shooting. She grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, which included five on the offensive glass. After her seven-block game to end the regular season, Jordan-Brown collected three more blocks against Gardner-Webb.
Dengokl and Trani combined for 11 points for the Bulldogs. Trani had three assists and a steal in 32 minutes of action.
No. 4 UNC Asheville will now play top seed and host school Radford in the semifinals on Friday, March 15. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. inside the Dedmon Center, and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.