Lady Jags defend a late surge by Lander to pick up a 70-58 win
By Jaxon Garner | Editor in chief
The Augusta University women’s basketball team held off the Lander Bearcats in a 70-58 win Monday night, Feb. 17,, despite a late push by the Bearcats to make things interesting.
The Lady Jags came into the game looking to build on their win against Georgia Southwestern on Feb. 15. In a 74-61 win against the Hurricanes. In that contest, the Jaguars were led by Quinasia Abercrombie, who had 18 points.
Lander came into the matchup with the Jaguars following a 68-48 win against Georgia College. That 20-point win ended their four-game losing streak that lasted over a two-week stretch.
The Jaguars were once again without star guard, Autumn Phillips, who is out until indefinitely with a collarbone injury.
AU bench after a basket in the second half (Photo by Paula Toole/AU Athletics.) Top: AU’s Mone Florence puts up a contested layup against Lander. (Photo by Paula Toole/AU Athletics.)
“She may potentially be able to come back,” said coach Celeste Stewart of Phillips. “It is just constant communication with her doctors. It’s all about her progression.”
The Jaguars would have to turn to their other senior leader in Mone Florence to lead them over the Bearcats.
Florence did just that and she did it early. She contributed six points for the Jaguars in the first quarter helping the Jaguars take a 14-11 lead in the second quarter.
“A lot of it comes down to Mone’s preparation,” said Stewart. “She understands that we are down one of our leaders, so she’s really been taking on that and taking pride in that.”
Florence stayed hot, draining a 3-pointer to give the Jaguars a 21-15 lead with 5:52 remaining in the second quarter. The lead was the largest of the game by that point.
Augusta kept the momentum in their favor, at the hands of tough pressure on the defensive side of the ball forcing 12 turnovers in the first half. The Jaguars closed out the first half on a 5-0 run, led by a Nyaneit Puok 3-pointer to give Augusta a 32-24 lead going into halftime.
Florence led the Jaguars in the first half with nine points, while the Bearcats were led by Quadaija Langley, who currently ranks top five in the Peach Belt Conference in scoringwith 15.9 points per game. Langley and Shcira Fowles both led Lander with eight points.
The Jaguars held the momentum into the third quarter, going on a 6-0 run to take a 38-26 lead with 7:41 remaining in the quarter. The Bearcats were forced to call a timeout in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
Lander attempted to claw back into the matchup by going on a 4-0 run late in the third quarter. The run was put to sleep after a turnaround 3-pointer by Sierra Burns to give the Jaguars a 50-41 lead. The quarter was closed out by a Yamini Paul free throw to give Augusta a 52-40 lead heading into the final quarter.
Sierra Burns putting up a 3-pointer to extend the Jaguars lead (Photo by Paula Toole/AU Athletics.)
Burns stayed hot as she knocked down a deep 3-pointer on the first shot of the fourth quarter. The Jaguars then came back down the court and Paul drained a 3-pointer of her own to give the Jaguars a 58-42 lead just a minute into the fourth quarter.
The Bearcats made one final push by going on a 16-3 run to cut the Jaguars’ lead to just five points at 63-58 with 1:53 remaining in the game. The run featured five turnovers by the Jaguars that allowed the Bearcats to continue scoring.
“We lost our composure,” said Stewart. “We needed to be available for the ball when they started trapping.”
Despite the comeback effort from the Bearcats, the Jaguars managed to hold onto the lead and pulled off the 70-58 win.
The Jaguars were led by Florence with 17 points, while the Bearcats were led by Shcira Fowles who had 20 points and Quadaija Langley with 19 of her own.
The win marks the second in a row for the Jaguars, which is pivotal going down the stretch in a tough conference, where every win matters. The victory held the Jaguars’ third place position in the PBC standings.
The Jaguars will hit the road to face Lander again on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
“It’s definitely different,” Stewart said. “I know they are going to make adjustments, and so are we, so it is going to be interesting.”
Augusta will return home Saturda, Feb. 22, for a matchup against No. 10 North Georgia, which will host Homecoming and Senior Night.
“We have to make sure we are executing offensively,” said Stewart. “We have to do a good job of making things hard on them, and not allowing any second chance opportunities.”
Contact Jaxon Garner at jaxgarner@augusta.edu.
