LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The top defense in the Gulf South Conference came up big again Saturday, allowing West Alabama to sneak by Alabama Huntsville, 55-54, in women’s basketball at Pruitt Hall Gym.

Allowing just 54.3 points per game coming into Saturday’s game, West Alabama limited the Lady Chargers to just 29 percent shooting (17-for-57) on the way to splitting the weekend series with UAH. Bria Dent iced the winner cake for the Tigers by stealing the UAH inbounds pass with 3.7 seconds left to play to preserve the victory.

“The big thing is we didn’t quit and I really like that about this team,” UWA head coach Rusty Cram said. “I am really proud how we kept our poise at the end of the game.”

West Alabama improved to 3-1 and continues a six-game homestand Friday by hosting Union. UAH dropped to 3-3 and is host to Delta State Friday in the first of four straight games against the Lady Statesmen.

West Alabama got off to a slow start for the second consecutive day against the Lady Chargers, allowing UAH to convert 4-of-8 from behind the three-point line while recording six steals in the first quarter on the way to a 17-11 lead after 10 minutes.

For a second consecutive day against UAH the Tigers rallied in the second quarter to take a 29-27 lead at the half. UWA picked up the pace while holding the Lady Chargers scoreless for just over three minutes as time evaporated into halftime.

The Lady Chargers took a 43-28 lead after three quarters, thanks in part to forcing 11 Tiger turnovers in the period. UWA finished with 22 turnovers in a game that was tied nine times and had five lead changes.

“There were a lot of bright spots in this game, but we need to learn to enjoy prosperity,” Cram said. “Still, we are always pleased to get a “W”. We are definitely getting better every time we play.”

West Alabama hit 6-of-11 from the floor in the fourth quarter while limiting the Lady Chargers to just 3-of-12 , including a 0-for-9 stretch at one point.

Tazsa Garrett-Hammett was the only UWA player to score in double figures, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Garrett-Hammett also had four assists and three steals. Dent led all rebounders with 16.

“Tazsa is focused on becoming that player we all know she can be,” Cram said. “She has goals that she wants to accomplish and she is playing like it.”

Alexis Woods notched a double-double for UAH, scoring 19 points and grabbing 15 boards. Selena Pruitt chipped I 13 points and Sloan Mann had 11.

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LIVINGSTON, Ala. – After 26 days of celebrating the Promise of Christmas and observing the protocols of COVID-19, the University of West Alabama women’s basketball team returned to action Friday at Pruitt Hall Gym, losing to Alabama Huntsville, 62-58.

“I could tell we have been off for a month,” UWA head coach Rusty Cram said. “It was mental mistake after mental mistake and we put ourselves in a huge hole early that we had to dig out of.”

Alabama Huntsville improved to 3-2 with the win. The loss was the first for West Alabama, who dropped to 2-1. The Tigers and Lady Chargers play again Saturday at Pruitt Hall. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

A UWA four-minute scoring drought, coupled with four turnovers over that time, enabled UAH to build a 22-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers and Lady Chargers each scored 11 points in the second period, giving UAH a 33-22 halftime advantage.

West Alabama put together a 7-0 run and Alabama Huntsville failed to score for 2:30 late the third period, allowing the Tigers to cut the UAH lead to 44-39 after 30 minutes.

The Tigers pulled to within one point at 55-54 on a Jala Williams layup off a steal by Bria Dent with 2:33 left in the game. It was as close as UWA would get.

Two free throws from Alaina Taylor gave UAH a 61-55 lead with 17.3 seconds to play before a three-pointer from Naelyn Rios pulled UWA within three at 61-58 with 10.6 seconds left. A free throw from Selena Pruitt with 9.4 seconds to play iced the game for the Lady Chargers.

“We couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities they gave us,” Cram said. “The press got us back in the game, but give UAH credit for adjusting. They did a good job of getting us out of some things we like to do and do well.

“Our kids never quit and I was proud of them for that,” Cram said. “We have come back and be ready to play again tomorrow. We have to learn to play through adversity. Good teams do that.”

Led by Pruitt with 15 points and Holly Harris with 14, UAH led for 38:06 of a game where the lead only changed hands twice. Alexis Woods rounded out UAH double figure scorers with 11 points. Harris had seven rebounds to lead UAH.

Rios scored 18 points to lead four West Alabama players in double digits. Tazsa Garrett-Hammett had 14, followed by Dent with 11 and Zoe Watts with 10. Dent had eight boards as the Tigers outrebounded the Lady Chargers, 37-33.

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Junior Alexis Woods earned Player of the Week in the GSC West and Freshman Olivia Smith was named Freshman of the Week in the West.

Woods averaged a double-double in UAH’s split with No. 15 Union. Her 32 points in Friday’s win was the most by any player in the league this season and the most by a Charger since 2016. Woods is the first UAH player to win this award since Dina Saunders during the  2015-16 season.

Smith had nine points and four steals in UAH’s game with No. 15 Union on Saturday. She is the first Charger to win this award since teammate Holly Harris did so in two seasons ago.

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HARROGATE, Tenn. – Following a 19-day break from competition due to COVID-19 issues, the second-ranked Lincoln Memorial University men’s basketball team returned in a big way Sunday afternoon in a top-15 showdown with 11th-ranked The University of Alabama in Huntsville inside B. Frank “Tex” Turner Arena. The Railsplitters (3-0) won their 35th consecutive game with a dominant 93-68 victory, extending the nation’s longest winning streak among all levels of college basketball after scoring 57 second-half points behind 58.6 percent (17-of-29) shooting.

Holding the visiting Chargers (0-1) to 28 first-half points, LMU took a six-point lead into halftime and never looked back after the break. Connecting on just four of their 18 first-half tries from behind the arc (22.2 percent), the Railsplitters reversed things in the last 20 minutes of play as they shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from deep in the second half. Behind 18 second-half points from redshirt senior guard Devin Whitfield, who made his first start of 2020-21, LMU looked unstoppable on the offensive end of the court.

Assisting on 27 of their 31 made field goals, the Railsplitters claimed their first win over UAH since February of 2003. Keeping the Chargers to 36.5 percent (23of-63) shooting in the old Gulf South Conference rivalry, LMU was physical on the glass and held a plus-five rebounding margin (40-35).

Junior forward Jordan Guest was nothing shy of authoritative, imposing his will with a double-double in the first half and finishing his career day with 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting, 15 rebounds and three assists. In only 25 minutes of action, the Tallahassee Community College and Boston University transfer went 3-for-5 from long range and had a block, not to mention drawing six fouls.

The Chargers were unable to keep pace with the host Railsplitters, who scored 21 points off the fast break and came away with 13 steals. UAH did get 41 points off its bench and held a 30-28 advantage in the paint.

Withstanding a 13-6 Charger run after LMU built a 19-10 lead, the Railsplitters closed the final three minutes of the first half on a 11-5 run of their own. Guest had 13 points and 10 boards at the break with LMU shooting 45.2 percent (14-of-31) in the first 20 minutes and UAH just 35.5 percent (11-of-31).

An explosive 16-5 run to begin the second half gave the Railsplitters a commanding 52-33 lead before LMU broke things wide open. Completing a 19-7 run in the first 3:16 of the second half with a Guest three pointer, the Railsplitters went ahead by 20 at 55-35. However, UAH would go on a 18-12 run over the next seven-and-a-half minutes of play to get within 14 at 67-53 with just under 10 minutes to go.

A trey from sophomore guard Jeremiah Keene capped a 10-4 LMU run and got the Railsplitters back in front by 20 at 77-57. LMU kept its foot on the gas and didn’t let up for the remainder of the game as the Railsplitters went on an impressive 15-0 spurt in 2:14. A three ball by senior guard Alex Dahling gave the Blue and Gray a convincing 34-point lead at 92-58 with only 3:40 remaining, and LMU was able to go deep into its bench.

Preseason All-Americans Whitfield and redshirt junior guard Cameron Henry were spectacular. Whitfield finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-for-18 shooting, including five three pointers, and four assists. Henry simply filled up the stat sheet, scoring 18 points, dishing out a game-best eight assists, grabbing five rebounds and tying his career high in steals with five.

UAH was led by Nathan Moore, who scored a team-high 20 points and pulled down a team-best nine rebounds in 19-and-a-half minutes off the bench. The Chargers also got double-figure scoring from guard Sam Orf (14) and Auston Leslie (11).

True freshmen Tyler McKinney and Jordan Walters both made their Railsplitter debuts, finishing out the final 3:25 of the contest.

The Railsplitters step back into SAC play and hit the road Wednesday, Dec. 16 when LMU travels to Salisbury, North Carolina, to take on Catawba in a rare 1 p.m. midweek tip-off.

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HUNTSVILLE – The UAH Chargers won the 2020 GSC Men’s Cross Country Championship. This marks the Chargers’ second consecutive conference championship and sixth overall.

The Chargers placed four runners in the top 10.  Harold LaCroix, a 2019 First Team All-GSC selection, finished in third and was immediately followed by 2019 Individual Champion Jay Day. Day earned his fourth consecutive First Team All-GSC selection. Freshman of the Year Gabe Henneberger finished in seventh, and he was followed by Caleb Boys in eighth.

The Chargers scored 33 points, finishing nine points ahead of the runners-up Lee Flames.

Montevallo, Mississippi College, and Auburn Montgomery rounded out the top five.

David Cain of UAH was named Coach of the Year, earning the award for the seventh time in his career.  He has led the program to all six of its GSC Championships.

Christian Noble of Lee won his third GSC Individual Championship, joining elite company. Only two other runners (Daniel Kirwa of Harding and Christian Palmer of Troy) have previously accomplished this feat. Noble also joined Day in earning his fourth First Team All-GSC selection.

Joseph Leventry of Montevallo finished in second place.  He is Montevallo’s best ever GSC individual finisher in the school’s history.

Brishen House of Valdosta State garnered a Second Team All-GSC selection, making him the Blazers’ first All-GSC runner since 2014.

This was one of the fastest races in GSC Men’s Cross Country Championship. The top five runners (Noble, Leventry, LaCroix, Day, Caleb Eagleson) all placed amongst the ten fastest times in conference history.

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BIRMINGHAM – The Gulf South Conference is proud to announce the GSC All-Decade Awards for men’s basketball. The awards factor in the years 2011-20 and were jointly selected by institutional personnel, coaches, and league administrators.

The complete list of honorees, along with a description of their accomplishments, can be found at the following link:

GSC MEN’S BASKETBALL ALL-DECADE AWARDS (2011-20)

Alabama Huntsville’s Josh Magette has been named the GSC Player of the Decade. Magette is a three-time all-conference selection and was named the GSC Co-Player of the Year in 2012. On the national level, Magette earned multiple All-American honors and was named the 2012 Daktronics South Region Player of the Year. Magette was at his best in the postseason, guiding UAH to back-to-back Elite Eights, earning Most Outstanding Player honors in the South Regional each time. He was also the Most Outstanding Player of the 2012 GSC Championship. Magette was recently named to the GSC Hall of Fame Class of 2020.

Magette’s coach Lennie Acuff has been named the GSC Coach of the Decade. Acuff was named the GSC Coach of the Year four times in the decade and NABC District Coach of the Year three times. He led the Chargers to Elite Eight twice (2011 and 2012) to go along with five appearances in the Sweet Sixteen. UAH advanced to the conference title game six times in the decade under Acuff and won three GSC Championships.

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