JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- A late surged pushed UNC Asheville Women's Basketball past Presbyterian 69-63 in the first round of the Big South Conference Championship Wednesday night (Mar. 5) inside Freedom Hall.
BOX SCORE
The teams traded buckets in the opening quarter, with either side not leading by more than three in the period. Dakota McCaughan's third three-pointer of the quarter gave Asheville a 19-16 lead headed to the second.
Asheville was able to stretch its lead to as many as six in the quarter, before hitting a cold spell at the end of the quarter. Presbyterian finished the half on a 7-0 run over the final two and a half minutes to take a 40-37 lead to the break.
Asheville would win the third quarter 13-12 in a low-scoring defensive effort, despite the Bulldogs going scoreless for almost the final three minutes of the frame. Swift scored a turnaround jumper just past the five-minute mark to tie the game at 46, before Presbyterian scored six of the final 10 points in the quarter.
Presbyterian stretched its lead to as many as eight in the early goings of the fourth quarter, before and old-fashioned three-point play from LaImani Simmons got the game back within five. A transition layup from Deborah Orianegbena assisted by McCaughan cut the deficit to four, before a layup from Taylor Wilkins got the game back within two and a pair of free throws from Alana Swift tied the game with about three minutes left. After Presbyterian took a two-point lead with two and a half minutes left, Swift scored a layup to tie the game up again with under two minutes left. Asheville would make the most of a few late Presbyterian empty possessions, as Swift scored the final six points of the game to give Asheville the win.
Asheville shot 47.2 percent (25-53) from the field, 28.6 percent (4-14) from long range and 65.2 percent (15-23) from the foul line in the game. Asheville outscored Presbyterian 8-7 on fast breaks in the game and a season-best 42-7 off the bench in the contest. Asheville was paced by a game-high and career-high 30 points from Swift, marking the first 30-point game for the Bulldogs since Nadiria Evans scoring 33 back on Feb. 2, 2022 against Campbell. It is also the second-highest scoring Big South Championship game for the Bulldogs in program history behind Kristal Hood back on Mar. 7, 2006 at High Point along with being only three points off the conference record for points in a first round tournament game. McCaughan added 12 points while Simmons had 11 off the bench, along with seven from Abigail Wilson to reach 900 points for her Bulldog career. Orianegbena added six points in the game, while Wilkins had two and Trinity Barnes had one. Orianegbena pulled down a team-high nine boards in the game, while McCaughan, Wilson, Swift and Burris each had five boards in the game. Wilkins and Skylar Bailey each pulled down one rebound in the game. McCaughan dished out two assists in the game, while Wilkins and Bailey each had one. McCaughan also led the way with three steals in the game, along with two from Swift and one each from Wilson, Orianegbena and Burris.
The Bulldogs return to action tomorrow (Thursday, Mar. 6) to face top seed High Point in the quarterfinal. Tip-off is set for 11:30 a.m. from Freedom Hall.