CARROLLTON, Ga. - The University of West Alabama women's basketball team battled a close game with Tuskegee University, 59-55, in the season opener for both teams on Friday from the GSC/SIAC Crossover, hosted by the University of West Georgia.

Tuskegee, winners of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2023, starts the 2023-24 season receiving votes in the preseason Women's Basketball Coaches Association Poll (WBCA).

The Tigers made it an 8-5 deficit in the opening minutes of the contest. Julia Rodriguez made it a one-point affair with a layup after an Aliyah Dade steal.

From there, TU did not allow the Tigers to find the hoop the rest of the period, finishing on an 8-0 run to make it a 16-7 lead.

In the quarter, Tuskegee posted nine rebounds, four on the offensive glass to covert three second chance points. The defense was stellar for the Golden Tigers as well, forcing nine turnovers in the opening quarter, which led to eight points on the other end.

The UWA offense came out strong in the second period with a seven-point stretch before the media break at 4:37, capped by a Sydney Schwallie triple to make it a 20-14 deficit.

Coming out of the media timeout, following a missed field goal, Shayla Golden picked up the offensive board and passed to Rodriguez on the other side of the paint for the second chance opportunity and a 20-16 affair.

With under two minutes left in the half, Rodriguez got in double figures in the point column with a quick jump shot to make the score 22-19 in favor of Tuskegee. Despite the quick response by the Golden Tigers on the other end, the Tigers netted two free throws by Rodriguez to make it a 24-21 score. After Tuskegee missed two free throws on the other end, Kaedre Denson ended the half with a layup to make the score 24-23 in favor of TU at the break.

With the opening quarter being dismal for the Tigers on offense, they responded well in the second, outscoring TU 16-8 and shooting 6-of-17 from the floor in the frame.

Despite the Golden Tigers getting on the board first to start the second half, West Alabama went on a 6-0 run to take its first lead of the day. Following Denson's field goal to start the third, she quickly earned the steal on the next possession and passed it up to Schwallie who found Golden for the fastbreak layup to give the Tigers their first lead of the afternoon, 27-26.

Following a quick miss from Arielle McElroy, Maryanne Logsdon found Golden again for the layup to make it a 29-26 lead and forced Tuskegee to take a timeout.

UWA extended the lead to five with a Golden layup with 4:15 left in the third, but a 9-3 run by the Golden Tigers tied the game back at 39. After three periods, we were all tied up at 41.

TU got out to seven-point lead with six minutes to go, 49-42, and extended the lead to nine, 55-46, with under a minute to go.

After a UWA timeout to advance the ball, Tuskegee decides to foul. After Rodriguez made the first free throw, she missed the second, and cleaning up the rebound was Golden, who went back up and scored while drawing a foul. She completed the three-point play, and within seconds, a nine-point lead became five, 55-50, for Tuskegee with 39.2 seconds left.

Later, after both free throws were off the rim by Brittney Bolin, Logsdon found a wide-open Kamille Clark in the paint for the quick layup and cut the deficit to a one-possession game, 55-52. However, the Golden Tigers converted their final four free throw attempts to seal the season-opening victory.

While UWA had a better shooting performance from the field (42.3% to 40.7%) and out-rebounded TU, 39-37, the story came down to the charity stripe, as the Tigers just connected on 10-of-23.

It was the newcomers for West Alabama that showed out in the season opener on Friday. Kennesaw State University transfer Julia Rodriguez posted 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting and added six rebounds.

Itawamba Community College transfer Shayla Golden posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Maryanne Logsdon played almost 39 minutes and dished out a career-best eight assists, while Kamile Clark added six boards and four dimes.

Brittney Bolin led Tuskegee with 13 points and six rebounds.

West Alabama will have a quick turnaround, as they will take on Albany State on Saturday from Carrollton, Georgia at noon ET / 11 a.m. CT.