CLINTON, Miss. – The University of West Alabama Women’s basketball team got off to a second slow start in as many games, but once more the Tigers persevered and found a way to grind out a 60-54 victory over the Mississippi College Lady Choctaws Tuesday night in Gulf South Conference West Division action in A.E. Wood Coliseum.

Mississippi College (3-4) got out to a strong start and outscored UWA (5-3, 4-3 GSC) 15-9 in the opening quarter while limiting the Tigers to 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from the floor. However, the Tigers completely reversed the trend from that point going 56.4 percent (22-of-39) the rest of the way.

“MC played great defensively to start the game. They gave us some looks that we had to adjust too early, “said Head coach Rusty Cram. I thought our defense got us going. Really proud of the effort. We pushed the ball up the court better and got some mismatches inside as a result. This was a solid win on the road.”

West Alabama went on the finish the game 51 percent (26-of-51) from the floor and 50 percent (8-of-16) from the free throw line. The Tigers didn’t connect from beyond the arc going and missed five attempts

“They pressured us all night and took the threes away. Our Defense won it tonight,” said Cram.

The UWA defense limited the Lady Choctaws to just 32 percent (16-of-50) from the floor and 22.2 percent (4-of-18) from three. Free throws kept MC in the game as the team was 81.8 percent (18-of-22) from the line.

Bria Dent led all scorers with 17 points along with five rebounds and two steals. Naelyn Rios contributed 14 points and a team leading eight rebounds along with two assists while Tazsa Garrett-Hammett finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, a block, one steal and an assist. Jala Williams led the team with five assists will chipping in with eight points.

After outscoring MC, 14-11, in the second quarter to cut MC’s lead to 26-23 at the half. The Third quarter is where the Tigers really shined and where Dent did most of her damage. The junior from Birmingham, Alabama scored 10 of the team’s 18 points in the quarter to help give UWA.a 41-34 lead heading to the fourth.

The final quarter went back and forth with the Tigers hitting seven of 14 shots in the period coupled with five throws while the Lady Choctaws were 4-of-13 from the floor but 11-of-12 from the free throw line to win the quarter 20-19, however the Tigers did enough to earn the 60-54 win.

The Tigers must now focus on two more road games to end the week with a trip to Jackson, Tennessee in store to face Union University in GSC West Division action. The Jan. 29 contest is set for a 6 p.m. start while the Jan. 30 game is set to tipoff at 3 p.m. in Fred Delay Gymnasium. Links to live video and live stats will be available on uwaathletics.com.

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LIVINGSTON, Ala. – Roger Davis scored 21 points to lead four West Alabama players in double figures on the way to a 67-49 Gulf South Conference men’s basketball victory over Mississippi College Wednesday at Pruitt Hall Gym.

West Alabama improved to 2-0 with the win. Mississippi College dropped to 0-4.

Shardarrion “Fat” Allen chipped in 15 points, followed by Robert Davis with 14 and Kortrijk Miles with 10. Allen led all rebounders with eight as the Tigers outrebounded the Choctaws 37 to 25. Davis had five assists for UWA.

“To hold Mississippi College to 49 points is a great effort defensively because it takes a big time effort to guard that team,” Woodruff said after his Tigers limited MC to 15 points under their season average. “I am extremely proud for our guys because we work really hard.

“This was a good test for us, but we are a long way from getting it done,” Woodruff said. “Right now it is more about us and how we defend than it is about the other team.”

It took West Alabama over four minutes to record its first points, a Roger Davis layup at the 15:28 mark in the first half. It was a different story over the next eight minutes with the Tigers converting eight straight field goal attempts.

Neither team could locate the bottom of the bucket as the first half wound to a close with West Alabama holding a 25-20 lead. The Tigers did not score for the final 3:25 of the half, making just 2-of-10 field goal tries. The Choctaws were blanked for the last 2:18.

For the second consecutive night West Alabama hit the accelerator in the second half, converting 53 percent (14-of-26) from the floor while limiting MC to 39 percent (10-of-26). Robert Davis scored all 14 of his points in the final 20 minutes and Allen had 11 of his 15 in the second half.

“I am thrilled for Roger to have that kind of night and Fat is also playing really well,” Woodruff said. “One thing that goes unnoticed sometimes is that CJ Melton is like Swiss Army Knife as a defender. He is good wherever we ask him to be.”

Brandon Boston was the only Choctaw to score in double figures, but led all scorers with 27 points on a 12-of-19 shooting night. He also led Mississippi College rebounders with seven.

West Alabama travels to Jackson, Tennessee to take on Union (4-2) in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday. Mississippi College doesn’t play again until hosting Union on Jan. 22 and 23.

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LIVINGSTON – It took nine months, nine days and over 70 practices, but new West Alabama head Nick Woodruff finally earned his first win as the head coach of the Tigers, a 70-64 come-from-behind decision over Mississippi College Tuesday at Pruitt Hall Gym.

“Not that I am counting,” Woodruff said.

West Alabama (1-0) and Mississippi College (0-3) finish the season-opening series for the Tigers Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Pruitt Hall.

Mississippi College got off to a fast start, shooting 83 percent (10-for-12) from the floor in the first 11 minutes to build a 22-15 advantage, but missed their next eight shots as the Tigers cut the Choctaw lead to 24-21 with just over four minutes to play in the first half.

West Alabama continued to defend well as the half wound down, holding the Choctaws to 3-for-14 from the field down the stretch with Mississippi College taking a 30-26 lead into the half.

“They punched us in the mouth early, but we rallied back,” Woodruff said. “We have waited so long to play this game. I mean here we are opening our season on January 12 due to different COVID precautions.

“That’s a resilient group of kids in that locker room, a good group that really wants to play,” Woodruff said. “It’s been a rollercoaster ride so far, but now we have to get going and do it all again tomorrow (Wednesday).”

The Tigers came out firing on all cylinders to begin the second half, tying the game at 30-30 at the 19:24 mark before a three-pointer by Roger Davis with 18:53 left gave UWA its first lead at 33-30. UWA outscored MC 20-9 over first eight minutes of second half.

Mississippi College ended up shooting 54 percent (26-for-48) from the floor, while West Alabama rebounded from a slow start to convert 44 percent (27-of-61). The Tigers recorded nine steals and forced 17 Choctaw turnovers.

The game was tied at 61-61 with 2:14 left, but a jumper from Shardarrion Allen and a pair of free throws each from Justin Allison and CJ Melton stretched the UWA lead to 67-61 with 1:53 to play. Three free throws from Antonio Cowart helped MC cut the lead to 67-64 before a three-pointer from Allison provided the final margin with 7.5 seconds left.

Allison led all scorers and three West Alabama double-figure scorers with 20 points. Allen chipped in 18 on a 9-of-12 shotting night. Davis chipped in 14. Allison, the UWA point guard, also collected a team-high seven rebounds and five assists. Allen had four steals.

“Justin had a great game and I am proud of him,” Woodruff said. “It’s been a rough stretch of practice for him because I have coached him really hard over the last week, but he is tough enough to handle it and I am so proud of his coachability.”

Brandon Boston scored 18 points and Cowart chipped in 17 to lead Mississippi College, Marko Jovanovic collected a game-high eight rebounds, for MC. Boston made 7-of-10 from the field. The Choctaws outrebounded UWA, 33-27.

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