Box Score by Sam Jones, Sports Information Student Assistant
AUGUSTA, Ga. - The Georgia College women's basketball team (15-7, 7-6 PBC) fell Wednesday night at Augusta University (17-5, 10-3 PBC) 84-76 after a furious second-half comeback attempt fell short. Kadesha Gibbs (Claremont, North Carolina) posted her eighth double-double of the season and LaRice Walker (Franklin) added a 19-point, six-assist performance.
Augusta had to shoot better than 50 percent (32-62) from the floor to hold off the Bobcats, who had an impressive shooting night of their own, hitting 47.4 percent (27-57) of their shots.
Georgia College stumbled out of the starting gate, finding themselves down 21-13 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bobcats brought the game within two midway through the second quarter, but the Jaguar advantage quickly expanded before the Bobcats could draw even. A huge 15-2 run carried Augusta into the locker room with a 15-point lead.
The second half began with Augusta continuing to pad its lead. With 9:13 left in the ballgame Augusta held a 21-point margin, but the tide began to shift towards the Bobcats.
The 21-point-lead dwindled to just four with 48 seconds left thanks to a 19-point fourth quarter outburst from the duo of Gibbs and Walker. Unfortunately, the lead was too tall a mountain for the Bobcats to climb as Augusta pulled away to shut down the comeback attempt and grab the win.
Gibbs tied for the game-high in scoring, picking up 22 points. She also led in rebounding on the night, grabbing 10 boards in the double-double effort.
Walker's 19 points gave the junior her 13th double-digit scoring effort of the season and the 34th of her career. Sophomore Alyah McGriff (Suwanee) poured in 16 points off the bench on 8-of-12 shooting.
The loss is the second in a row for the Bobcats who haven't had much luck lately away from the Centennial Center, now 1-5 in conference road games.
Georgia College returns to action Saturday, Feb. 6 at 3:30 p.m. as the Bobcats welcome Columbus State to Milledgeville for the 2016 Georgia College Homecoming Game. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 as the network's Division II Game of the Week.
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.
