LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Alabama Women's Basketball team fell, 60-50, to the Tuskegee Golden Tigers in their season opener on Tuesday.
UWA (0-1, 0-0 GSC) struggled offensively, shooting 26.2 percent from the floor and 26.3 percent from three which led to their 10-point loss to Tuskegee (1-0, 0-0 SIAC).
In the first quarter, neither team could find their offensive rhythm as the two squads combined to score only 17 points on 17 percent shooting. Kendall Lacoste made the first basket of the game for the Tigers at the 7:54 minute mark before their offense went cold. West Alabama failed to put in another until Shayla Golden made a layup with 52 seconds left in the quarter, which led to a 10-7 Tuskegee lead as the period came to an end.
The Golden Tigers began to find their offensive flow in the second quarter while the Tigers continued to struggle. Jordan Parker gave UWA a lift off the bench, scoring seven points in the period to keep West Alabama in striking distance of Tuskegee. Parker shot 3-4 in the quarter while the rest of the Tigers shot 1-15, leading to the Golden Tigers widening their lead to 27-16 as we reached halftime.
West Alabama shot 18 percent from the field and 11 percent from three in the first half, resulting in their 11-point deficit.
It was a promising start to the second half for UWA as Julia Rodriguez knocked down her first two shots after being held scoreless in the first 20 minutes. Rodriguez sparked the Tigers momentarily before Tuskegee's Brittney Bolin and Hilani Cantone ended all of the momentum West Alabama gained out of the break. Buckets from Bolin and Cantone ignited a 7-0 Golden Tigers' run, putting UWA in their largest deficit of the night at 17 points with 5:21 left in the third. Similar to Parker in the first half, Jada Colley gave West Alabama solid minutes off the bench as she poured in five points in the final five minutes of the quarter, but UWA still faced a 45-33 deficit at the end of the period.
West Alabama put together their best quarter of the night in the fourth as they won the period, 18-17. Even while winning the quarter, UWA couldn't get their deficit within 10 points as Tuskegee handed the Tigers a 60-50 loss to begin the 2024-25 season.
Lacoste, Parker, and Colley all scored a team-high 10 points while Shayla Golden recorded a team-high nine rebounds. Defensively, Callie Cowan registered a game-high four steals.
