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Bria Dent
Jordan Allison
74
Winner West Ala. WA 4-3,3-2 Gulf South
65
Montevallo Mont 5-3,5-3 Gulf South
Winner
West Ala. WA
4-3,3-2 Gulf South
74
Final
65
Montevallo Mont
5-3,5-3 Gulf South
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
West Ala. WA 16 17 8 33 74
Montevallo Mont 16 14 18 17 65

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Fourth Quarter Surge Propels Tigers to 74-65 Win over Falcons

MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The University of West Alabama Women's basketball team fell down by as much as nine points in the fourth, but Tigers put up a 33-15 run on the way to a 74-65 victory over the University of Montevallo Falcons Saturday afternoon in Trustmark Arena in a non-conference game between the two Gulf South Conference teams.
 
"Obviously made some adjustments, but the biggest difference in the fourth was not getting key people in foul trouble," said Head coach Rusty Cram. "We gave them several different looks defensively and Coach Jeff Lovell had us prepared as well. Huge win on many fronts. A road win is always big, but one against a conference school is even sweeter. This was huge for our confidence."
 
The back and forth contest saw 22 lead changes and 14 ties before UWA (4-3) pulled away in the final quarter on the way to the win.
 
After dominating the third quarter, 18-8, and taking a 48-41 lead to the fourth, the Falcons (5-3) were up by as much as nine points at the 9:06 mark in the fourth off a layup from Kiya Sain for a 50-41 advantage.
 
From that point, the Tigers chipped away at the lead bit by bit. UWA took the final lead change with 4:44 left off a pair free throws by Bria Dent to go up 59-57. West Alabama kept their foot on the gas and went up by as much as 10 points after free throws from Jala Williams connected to make the score 71-61 with 29 seconds left. 
 
The teams traded free throws from that point aside from a Sain layup with five seconds left on the way to the final 74-65 win for the UWA.
 
Montevallo got out to an early 16-10 lead off a Sain jumper at the 3:59 mark in the first quarter, but the Tigers answered with a 6-0 run capped by a free throw from Naelyn Rios to tie the game at 16-16 to end the first 10 minutes. 
 
In the second quarter, Tiara McLeod hit a shot to put UM 25-20 with 5:17 before the half. However, West Alabama again responded with a 13-5 run as Tazsa Garrett-Hammett put in a layup at 1:01 left in the half to give the Tigers a 33-30 advantage at the half. 
 
Dent finished with 27 points, just one short of her career high, along with nine rebounds and three steals led the team in all three categories. Tazsa Garrett-Hammett posted 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Rios and Zoe Watts both finished with 14 points apiece while Williams posted a career high nine rebounds. 
 
"Bria's 27 points, the other three in mid double figures and Jala having nine assists was key. Coach Veronica Ryan did great prep work offensively," said Cram.
 
Kiya Sain for Montevallo led all scorers with 27 points along with four rebounds and four steals. Kourtnie Smith grabbed 10 rebounds for the Falcons.
 
West Alabama returns to action in the GSC West Division for a one game trip to Clinton, Mississippi to face Mississippi College on Jan. 26 at 5 p.m. Links to live video and live stats for the game will be available on uwaathletics.com.
 
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