Augusta women move to 2-0 in Peach Belt with win over Young Harris

By Jack Johnson | Sports writer

The Augusta University women’s basketball team defeated Young Harris College 54-45 on Saturday, Feb. 6, at Christenberry Fieldhouse in their second game back from an extended absence.

The Jags won for the second straight time after missing eight games due to the pandemic and now find themselves in a tie for first place in the Peach Belt Conference. Both AU and Lander are undefeated in league play.

It was a gritty back-and-forth game against the Mountain Lions (2-4, 2-4) as the Jaguars (2-0, 3-3) struggled somewhat on the offensive end, shooting just 35 percent from the field and 20 percent from beyond the arc.

The lack of offensive production, however, was not a top concern for AU Coach Millette Green.

“It was an ugly game for us, but we looked solid on the defensive end,” Green said. “Defense and rebounding are our top priorities right now,” Green said.

With Kennedi Manning holding down the paint, Zairya West and Kiera Howard proved to be a nightmare duo on the perimeter accounting for five steals between the two of them. This ferocious defensive combination held the Mountain Lions to an abysmal 31.3 percent field goal percentage and helped the Jaguars prevail in the end.

“Our mindset has changed since the break,” said Howard, the Jaguars’ leading scorer since their return to action. “Our coaching staff preached to us that it’s important to not take any opportunity to step on the court lightly.”

Howard had 11 points and nine rebounds in the win over Young Harris. November Morton also had 11 points for AU.

Defensively, the Jaguars’ best quarter was the first when they held Young Harris to only four points and scored to 12 points to lead by eight going into the second quarter.

Augusta started off the quarter on a 6-0 run after layups from freshman Michaela Lane, Howard and Manning. The Mountain Lions scored their first bucket on a shot from Niaya White to cut the lead to 6-2 with 7:19 remaining.

The Jaguars held the Mountain Lions scoreless for four minutes. Then Mackenzie Johnson knocked down a jumper for Young Harris as the Mountain Lions trailed 10-4 with 3:03 left. Morton answered on the next possession for AU, making a mid-range jumper to give the Jaguars a 12-4 lead.

The second quarter consisted of more offense from both teams as the Jaguars outscored the Mountain Lions 17-13 and led at the half 29-17. 

The third quarter had some scoring droughts, but AU was able to achieve their biggest lead of the game after scoring five unanswered points. The Jags gained the 34-17 lead after Howard made a layup with 4:53 remaining. 

Young Harris started making a run late in the quarter, scoring 10 straight points, but in the final 1:26 of the quarter Augusta started what would end up an 8-0 run. 

Howard started the run making a close shot inside the paint and followed it up with a quick steal and dished a pass to West, who finished with a layup. Right after that, it was West’s turn to record a steal, and she was fouled and made both free throws at the line. 

Howard finished the run after grabbing a rebound and putting it back up for two points to give Augusta the 42-27 lead heading into the fourth.

“That was huge we talked about that in the locker room,” said Green on the way the team closed out the quarter. “It disrupted their offense. That was one of the keys to the game is to disrupt their offense with our defense, full court and half court.”

Like the previous game, AU outscored its opponent in the first three quarters but let up in the fourth quarter. Young Harris was able to outscore the home team 18-12, but that was still not enough as the Jaguars picked up the nine-point victory.

“We did not have another fourth quarter,” said Green. “Overall it wasn’t a pretty win, it wasn’t a pretty 40 minutes, but we’ll take a win at this point.”

The Jaguars (2-0, 3-3) will host Georgia College (1-8, 1-8) on Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m. The game will be livestreamed on pbcsportsnetwork.com.

(Note: Sports editor Carlos Rodriguez also contributed to this story.)

Contact  Jack Johnson at jacjohnson@augusta.edu

Kiera Howard (3) led AU with 11 points and nine rebounds in the conference win over Young Harris. (photo by Carlos Rodriguez)