#5 Winthrop Reaches Semifinals for Second Consecutive Year

#5 Winthrop Reaches Semifinals for Second Consecutive Year

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By Winthrop Athletics

JOHNSON CITY, TENN. -- The Winthrop University women's basketball team forced 22 turnovers and held fourth-seeded Gardner-Webb to just nine fourth-quarter points in a 64-52 victory in the Big South Conference quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon at Freedom Hall.  

FIRST QUARTER 
  • Both teams struggled to find a rhythm early, combining for four turnovers and seven missed shots before Lard drilled a three off a Porter assist at the 8:40 mark to give Winthrop a 3-0 lead. 
  • Acker answered with a three for Gardner-Webb and Harris scored a fastbreak layup to give the Bulldogs a 5-3 lead. 
  • Naomi Wilson tied it with an and-one layup off a Ruff assist at 3:44, then Lard converted two free throws to push the lead to 9-6. 
  • Ruff closed the quarter with a steal-and-score layup and then found Ryiah Wilson for a fastbreak layup in the final 30 seconds to push the lead to 13-6. 
  • Gray knocked down a three at the buzzer to cut Winthrop's lead to 13-9 after one. 
  • The Eagles grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the quarter but shot just 5-of-20 from the field. 
SECOND QUARTER 
  • Gray hit a jumper to cut it to 13-11, then Harris converted two free throws to tie the game at 13-13. 
  • Lard answered with a jumper off a Ruff assist to make it 15-13, but Acker tied it again with a three off a Legette assist at 5:10. 
  • Porter hit a jumper in the paint to regain the lead at 19-17, but Baraldi answered with a jumper to tie it at 19-19. 
  • Lard drilled another three off a Ryiah Wilson assist to push the Eagles ahead 22-19 before Walker tied it again with a three for GW. 
  • Legette converted two free throws to give Gardner-Webb its first lead since the first quarter at 24-22 with 1:31 left. 
  • Lard stole the ball with 22 seconds remaining and scored a fastbreak layup to tie it at 24-24, then picked off another Legette pass with four seconds left but couldn't convert as the teams went to halftime knotted up. 
THIRD QUARTER 
  • Naomi Wilson opened the second half with a fastbreak layup off a Porter assist to give Winthrop a 26-24 lead, but Gray answered with a three for GW. 
  • Pierfax knocked down back-to-back three-pointers, the second off a Lard assist, to briefly grab a 32-31 lead. 
  • Gray hit another three to push GW ahead 34-32 before Porter tied it with a layup off a Lard assist at 6:26. 
  • Lard picked up a steal off Walker and scored a fastbreak layup to tie it at 36-36, but Harris answered with a fastbreak layup off a Legette steal to put GW back up 38-36. 
  • Ryce hit a free throw to cut it to 37-40 before Ruff scored a layup to make it 39-40, and Ryiah Wilson converted a free throw to tie it at 40-40. 
  • Lard stole another Legette pass and Ryce hit a jumper off a Williams assist to give Winthrop a 42-40 lead, then Williams found Ryiah Wilson for a fastbreak layup to push it to 44-40. Legette hit a jumper to cut it to 44-43 heading into the fourth. 
FOURTH QUARTER 
  • Ruff scored a layup off a Naomi Wilson assist to push the lead to 46-45, then Ryiah Wilson hit a three off a Lard assist to make it 49-45 and force a GW timeout. 
  • Ruff ripped a steal from Legette and converted a fastbreak layup to extend the lead to 53-46, blowing the game open. 
  • Lard drilled a three to make it 56-46, and Porter added two free throws after grabbing an offensive rebound to push the advantage to 58-49. 
  • Naomi Wilson scored a layup off a Porter assist to make it 60-51, and the Eagles never looked back. 
  • Gardner-Webb went just 3-of-12 from the field in the quarter as Winthrop's defense clamped down, forcing four turnovers and fouling out both Harris and Ofunniyin. 
  • Naomi Wilson converted two free throws and Porter added another in the final minute to seal the 64-52 victory. 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 
  • Lard led the Eagles with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, going 3-of-6 from deep with four steals and three assists. 
  • Ruff, Porter and Naomi Wilson each scored 10 points, with Ruff adding four steals and three assists while shooting 5-of-8 from the field. 
  • Naomi Wilson recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, going 4-of-7 from the field with two steals and two assists. 
  • Winthrop outrebounded Gardner-Webb 44-31, including a 22-8 advantage on the offensive glass, and converted 22 Bulldog turnovers into 18 points. 
  • The Eagles dominated the paint 32-10 and scored 12 fastbreak points despite shooting just .387 from the field and 10-of-23 from the line. 
  • Amina Gray led Gardner-Webb with 11 points on 3-of-6 three-point shooting, while Anaya Harris added 10 points before fouling out. Amira Ofunniyin had seven points and 13 rebounds before also fouling out.