MEMPHIS, Tenn. – In the program's 1,250th game, the University of West Alabama women's basketball team held Christian Brothers University to 26% from the floor in the fourth quarter to defeat the Lady Bucs, 61-52, Monday night from Canale Arena.
The Tigers improved to 4-10 overall and 3-7 in Gulf South Conference play, while the Lady Bucs fell to 1-13 and 1-9.
With seven ties and 17 lead changes, UWA, who trailed 8-0 in the first quarter, rallied in the fourth thanks to a 12-2 run to end the contest.
"We finally found the right chemistry late in the game. We were not getting on the same page all night. Credit Sydney (Schwallie) hitting the 3-pointer and Maryanne (Logsdon) following up for the back-to-back late in the game for us. We were able to settle down from there," said head coach
Rusty Cram.
The Tigers, for the second straight game, saw themselves in a hole early, as the Lady Bucs made it an 8-0 lead in the first 90 seconds. However, UWA got back into it with four straight points by
Kamille Clark at the charity stripe.
CBU added two field goals to extend the lead back to eight points at the under-5 media timeout. Coming out of the break, the bank opened for West Alabama, finishing the frame on a 12-1 run to erase the early deficit and take the 16-13 lead.
In the stretch, the Tigers knocked down four out of five shots and held the competition to 0-for-6 from the floor.
Going into the second quarter, CBU's field goal drought of over seven minutes ended on a jumper to push the lead back to the home team by Chloe Crawford with over eight minutes left in the stanza.
From there, the contest went back and forth, with West Alabama keeping pace thanks to a 6-of-8 mark from the free throw line.
The scoring was a flurry on both sides of the goal in the final minute of the half.
Kaedre Denson posted a layup with 33 seconds remaining to give UWA the 24-23 lead. After a Tieriney Echols jumper on the other end,
Kendall Lacoste ended the half with a 3-pointer in the right corner to give UWA the lead right back, 27-25, at the break.
The contest followed similar suit for most of the third quarter, but the Lady Bucs made it a four-point lead with under a minute remaining with free throws by Tae Leatherwood. UWA cut the deficit back to two, 42-40, on free throws by Clark at the end of the period.
In the fourth, the battle for control of the lead continued, as UWA took a 49-48 lead on a Clark layup with under three minutes remaining, but CBU responded with a Destiny Kiner jumper and foul in the paint to continue the see-saw battle.
After Kiner missed the free throw on the three-point opportunity, the offense for West Alabama finally got going again thanks to a 3-pointer by
Sydney Schwallie from the top of the key to give the lead back to the visitors for good, 52-50.
After a one-and-done on the other end for CBU, Logsdon found Schwallie's pass for the 3-pointer for UWA's biggest lead of the night, 55-50.
Lacoste and Logsdon knocked down the final six points via the charity stripe to ice the game and improve the all-time record versus Christian Brothers to 21-17.
West Alabama finished the game on a 12-2 run, with the lone field goal by Christian Brothers coming with under 10 seconds remaining in the game.
The Tigers knocked down a season-high 23 free throws and made 77% of their shots from the charity stripe on Monday night, as
Kendall Lacoste (9) and
Kamille Clark (5) posted career-bests.
For the sixth time this season, Lacoste led UWA in scoring with 15 points and added five boards.
Maryanne Logsdon recorded 14 points and added seven rebounds and three dimes, while Clark added 11 points and six boards.
Kaedre Denson blocked three shots and picked up five rebounds, while
Jordan Parker tallied seven rebounds and set new career-bests in blocks (4) and assists (3).
Jeremia Montgomery led the Lady Bucs with 14 points, four rebounds and two blocks and steals each.
West Alabama will return home for the first time in 2024 with a GSC contest with West Florida. Tip is slated for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday from Pruitt Hall.
