Box Score by Sam Jones, Sports Information Student Assistant
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. - It was a team effort from the Georgia College Women's Basketball team (9-1, 1-0 PBC) as the Bobcats clawed their way to a 56-54 final score against USC Aiken (5-5, 0-1 PBC), picking up Georgia College's ninth straight win and its first conference win of the season.
It was a tight game throughout the entirety of the contest. An early 10:30 a.m. tip-off on Baldwin County Schools Day at the Centennial Center contributed to a loud crowd of local students and a defensive first quarter.
The Bobcats ended the first quarter with an 11-9 lead but the Pacer offense would wake up in the second, scoring 17 and taking a 26-22 lead into the half.
Georgia College answered out of the break and took a 37-36 lead late in the third after an Alyah McGriff (Suwanee) layup. McGriff would grab her second consecutive basket a few moments later, putting the Bobcats on top 39-36 heading in to the fourth.
The Pacers would tie the game up two more times in the fourth, but
Veronica Ryan (Clearwater, Florida) and the Bobcats would prove to be too much in the final quarter.
Ryan began the quarter by picking up her first block of the night. A few moments later she ignited the Bobcats' scoring in the fourth, knocking down a big three to break a 39-39 stalemate.
The Pacers scored quickly after the Ryan three, bringing the score back within one, but LaRice Walker (Franklin) responded with a quick layup of her own to extend the Bobcat lead back to three. USC Aiken answered again though, hitting a three of their own to tie the game at 44.
Lindsey Reed (Stockbridge) took a pass from Ryan and hit the second Bobcat three of the quarter, breaking the tie for the final time.
Ryan would drain another three to extend the lead to six, followed by a Walker layup and then another Ryan bucket, this time inside the arc.
The junior finally slammed a dagger in to the Pacers late in the game, taking the ball from the right wing, working around a defender and hitting a running floater from the baseline with 10.5 seconds left in the game to extend the Bobcats lead to five. The Pacers would come back down the court to hit a long three with 2.9 seconds on the clock to bring the score back within two, but that would be all USC Aiken could snatch back late.
Ryan finished with 10 points, an assist, a block and rebound in the final quarter.
Eight different Bobcats put points on the board en route to the win, with two Bobcats finishing in double-digits.
Ryan paced the Bobcats against the Pacers, finishing with a career and game-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, and 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Walker was right behind Ryan, ending the night with 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor.
Kadesha Gibbs (Claremont, North Carolina) and Mckenna Rushton (Gainesville) both ended the contest with eight points. Rushton added seven rebounds to the stat sheet and Gibbs just missed out on her fourth double-double of the year, grabbing a game high 12 rebounds. The eight point output for Gibbs marks only the second time that the senior has failed to reach double-digits in the 10 games this season. McGriff added six of her own, while Reed added five to the Bobcat scoring total.
The Bobcats will look to continue their nine-game win streak Saturday, Dec. 19 at 1:30 p.m. against UNC Pembroke in Milledgeville. UNC Pembroke is 4-3 overall and will be taking on Columbus State University in its first PBC game Thursday in Columbus before coming to Milledgeville.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at @GCBobcats on social media for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit GCBobcats.PhotoReflect.com to purchase photo prints from home athletic contests.
