Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Brittany Weathers poured in 25 points to lead West Alabama to a 58-41 women's college basketball victory in the quarterfinal round of the Gulf South Conference Tournament Friday at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
The defending tournament champion, West Alabama improved its record to 13-14 and advances to the semi-final round to play North Alabama (20-9) Saturday at 2:30 p.m. West Georgia ends it tournament run at 16-11.
 
West Alabama got off to a listless start, going 6:14 without a field goal early in the first half, making only three of its first nine shots and falling behind by 10 points. The Tigers battled back to tie the game at the 7:59 mark of the first half and led 27-21 at the intermission, making eight of it its last 13 shots in the first half.
 
“The first game in the tournament is always the hardest,” UWA head coach Craig Roden said. “They had us down 12-2 early on and from there we rallied back and went on a 25-8 run. I'm proud of our kids for being able to rally like that against a good basketball team.
 
“West Georgia has been playing as well as anybody in this conference coming into the tournament,” Roden said. “To hold them to 41 points and 22 percent shooting is a good day's work.”
 
West Georgia chipped its way back into the game, cutting the UWA advantage to just two points with 14 minutes left to play. A 21-7 run by West Alabama over the 10 minutes put the game away and handed the Tigers their largest lead of the game at 16 points.
 
Nikkia Jordan chipped in 11 points for West Alabama despite playing the final 10 minutes of the game with four fouls. The senior guard from Decatur, Ala., was one rebound shy of a double-double.
 
Jerlisa Taylor was the only West Georgia player to score in double digits with 10 points. Brittany Johnson and Taylor both had eight rebounds.