Top seed UWF uses hot first half to topple UWG in semifinal game
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In Saturday’s opening semifinal game, the No. 1 seed West Florida Argonauts took a commanding lead early over the No. 4 seed West Georgia Wolves and never surrendered it, going on to win 70-62 and claiming a spot in the Gulf South Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship game for the first time since 2014.
Led by junior guard Shami Goodman, who hit three three-pointers and totaled 13 points in the first half, West Florida took a 39-28 lead into halftime. The Wolves attempted a comeback late in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to five points with less than two minutes to play, but fell short in the end.
BY THE NUMBERS
| GAME SCORING |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
| West Georgia (15-13) |
12 |
16 |
14 |
20 |
62 |
| West Florida (25-9) |
27 |
12 |
16 |
15 |
70 |
| GAME LEADERS |
UWG |
UWF |
| Points |
J. Brown - 26 |
S. Goodman - 21 |
| Rebounds |
J. Brown - 7 |
T. Brewer - 15 |
| Assists |
Harris - 5 |
Coyne - 6 |
KEY MOMENTS
West Florida capped off a 13-2 run with a Goodman three-pointer early in the second quarter. Goodman’s basket from long range gave the Argos a 19-point lead, their biggest lead of the game.
NOTABLE
- Two UWF players recorded school records during the game. Senior guard Alex Coyne recorded the single-season assist record and sophomore forward Courtney Meyer set a new single-season block record.
- The Argos win was their 25
th of the season, tying a school record.
- UWG’s Jessica Brown led all scorers with 26 points, shooting 9-16 from the field.
- UWF last won the GSC Title in 2014.
QUOTES
"(UWG) zoned us up and made it difficult for us to move the ball. I thought our players stepped up an hit big outside shots and once we started hitting outside shots, we were able to get the ball inside where we scored and got fouled," said UWF head coach Stephanie Lawrence Yelton. "And defensively we stuck to our defensive game plan and made it tough for them to make shots. They have players who can made tough shots but we had to take our chances and make sure the ones they were taking were tougher than what they wanted to make at the end of the game.
"
“I think we had a lot of resilience today," said UWF's Alex Coyne. "We had a big lead but West Georgia’s not the type of team that is going to lay down and give up. They fought back and made it a close game in the fourth quarter but we stuck together and ended up expanding our lead little-by-little.”
UP NEXT
West Florida will face the winner of Valdosta State and Lee in the championship game at noon on Sunday, March 5.