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 – Four Union players scored in double figures and the Lady Bulldogs shot 61 percent in the second half on the way to an 87-68 women’s Gulf South Conference basketball victory over West Alabama Friday at Pruitt Hall Gym.

Union improved to 5-2 with the win and has now defeated UWA, who dropped to 3-2, nine straight times. The Tigers and Lady Bulldogs finish the two-game series Saturday at Pruitt Hall. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

“It was the turnovers that kicked our butt tonight,” UWA head coach Rusty Cram said. “That and they outscored us by 19 points in the third quarter and that was the final margin of victory.”

After taking a 40-39 lead into the half, West Alabama was outscored 27-8 in the third quarter, making just 2-of-12 shots from the floor. Conversely, Union was 9-for-13 in the third period (69 percent).

West Alabama turned the ball over 18 times compared to just eight miscues for Union. The Lady Bulldogs won the points off turnovers battle 23-1 and Union’s bench outscored the Tigers 25-14. The two teams combined for 64 points in the paint.

“We just shot ourselves in the foot in the third quarter and then got mentally down,” Cram said. “Union is a good basketball team that doesn’t make mistakes often. That’s why they play for championships every year.”

Jaelencia Williams led all scorers with 23 points for Union. Shanique Lucas chipped in 17 points, followed by Jordan Little with 12 and Leah Cauble with 11. Sadie Knee dished out a career-high 11 assists and Lucas collected four of Union’s 10 steals.

Bria Dent notched her second double-double of the season for UWA with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Tazsa Garrett-Hammett added 18 points and Naelyn Rios had 11.

Union led for over 28 minutes in a game that was tied nine times and had eight lead changes. West Alabama won the rebounding battle, 37-23.

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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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LIVINGSTON, Ala. – West Alabama put together a solid effort on both sides of the court on the way to a 74-54 Gulf South Conference women’s basketball victory over Delta State Saturday at Pruitt Hall Gym. The game was the season opener for both teams.

The Tigers (1-0) and Lady Statesmen (0-1) play the second game of a two-game series at Pruitt Hall Sunday. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.

West Alabama was in charge virtually from tap to buzzer, leading for all but 24 seconds and outscoring the Lady Statesmen, 35-22, in the final two quarters. The Tigers shot 52 percent from the floor (29-of-55) and scored 24 points off 22 Delta State turnovers.

“I am super, super proud of this team and of our effort because we really didn’t know what to expect,” UWA head coach Rusty Cram said. “We had to miss 14 days in the lead up to the game due to being quarantined.

“We didn’t just win tonight. We beat a very good, well coached basketball team,” Cram said. “I thought the second half was the difference. We came out of the gate and continued to open it up. We played hard, intense and were focused.”

A trio of turnovers midway through the first quarter gave UWA an early 17-9 lead. The Tigers had five steals and forced seven DSU turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game to build a 23-17 lead after one quarter and set the tone for the remainder of the game.

Delta State evened the score at 23-23 with 7:22 to go in the half, mounting a 6-0 run early in the second period before West Alabama turned up the defensive heat again in the stretch run to halftime, forcing five more Lady Statesmen turnovers in the last 4:10 of the quarter to give DSU 13 in the first two quarters.

“If you would have told me that we would have scored 74 points off a Craig Roden-coached team I would never have believed it,” Cram said. “They usually hold people in the 50s.”

Tazsa Garrett-Hammett led West Alabama scoring with 20 points, connecting on 7-of-14 from the field. She moved to fifth on the UWA all-time scoring list with Saturday’s effort, giving her 1,039 points. She is now third all-time at UWA in free throws made with 261 after a 6-for-8 effort.

Bria Dent notched a double-double for the Tigers, scoring 13 points and collecting 11 rebounds. Naelyn Rios added 19 points to round out double-digit scoring for UWA.

Zyaire Ewing led Delta State scoring with 20 points on a 9-for-14 shooting night. Shaniyah Buford was the only other Lady Statesmen player in double figures with 12. Ewing and Kristin Brown led DSU with seven rebounds each.

UWA outrebounded the Lady Statesmen 36-29 and collected 13 steals. The Tigers also collected 13 offensive rebounds to notch 16 second-chance points. UWA outscored DSU 42-34 in the paint.

A limited number of seats are available for Sunday’s game due to COVID protocols in Pruitt Hall. With tipoff at 3 p.m., doors will open at 2 p.m. Masks and social distancing are required.

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