ATLANTA, Georgia -- No. 10 West Georgia Tech opened the new year with an exciting 59-58 road victory over Carver College in women’s basketball action Sunday afternoon in Atlanta.
Carver had possession with a chance to win the game on an inbounds play from the sideline with 1.8 seconds left. The pass to the inside was defended well by the West Georgia Tech defense, and the Golden Knights escaped.
“We rotated really well defensively on that last play and I don’t think we could have defended it better,” said West Georgia Tech head coach Kenny Edwards. “I thought they would set up a play where they throw it inside to one of their tall girls, so we designed our defense around that. Overall this was a great effort against a team that can really give you problems with their size and we were fortunate enough to do it in a very difficult road environment”
WGTC improves to 11-4 on the season, by far the best start in school history, with wins in 8 of its last 9 games. The Black and Gold owns five wins against NJCAA D-I or D-II competition and has now beaten Carver College twice. Carver, a four-year school, is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association.
West Georgia Tech led by 5 with 3:00 remaining, but fell behind by a point with 40 seconds to play after the Cougars converted on three straight possessions.
Iiasia Early hit the eventual game-winning bucket with less than forty seconds on the clock, which put West Georgia Tech up for good, 59-58.
West Georgia Tech won despite its best player, Jacky Jones, sitting out. Edwards said that Jones would be ready to play when WGTC hosts Southern Union on Wednesday.
Sydnee Clark led WGTC with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Clark connected on 2 of 4 from the three-point line. Tymeshia Dozier (Rome Ga.) scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field.
Angie Colbert led the Golden Knights with six steals. JaNoah Daniels added 9 points, all coming from three-point range (3 for 4).
Brianna Cousin, a Carrollton native who prepped at Central High School, continues to be a dominant force inside. The freshman post player scored six points and pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds.
“This was a big win for us, and it’s a game that will teach us a lot as we go further into the season,” Edwards said. “We need to win close ballgames like this. We won without our best player, and give credit to our freshmen and even our other sophomores that stepped up.”
West Georgia Tech’s next game is at home Wednesday afternoon against Southern Union, which will bring a 13-0 record into the contest. WGTC dropped a 70-62 decision to Southern Union back in November.
Wednesday’s contest will start at 5:30 p.m., at West Georgia Tech’s home venue at Oak Mountain Academy in Carrollton.
