Shorter stops GCSU women’s hoops unbeaten start

Published 4:11 pm Saturday, November 23, 2024

Georgia College & State University women’s basketball enjoyed a 4-0 start to the 2024-25 season, but did not enjoy Shorter University’s 10-0 start to Wednesday’s non-conference action at The Centennial Center. The Lady Bobcats of head coach Ross Jolly fought back to make it such a battle that there were 10 lead changes overall in the second half.

Still, the first blemish for GCSU would be the final outcome, Shorter making four foul shots in the final seconds to win by four 64-60.

Sophomore guard Hannah Cail topped the Lady Bobcats in scoring with 14 points. Graduate transfer Evie DePetro scored 13 points, and veteran guard Ashyia Willis added 10. Another longtime lady Bobcat, forward Jada Warren, grabbed 11 rebounds with several coming in the clutch moments of the contest.

Shorter, though, benefitted the most from its trip to the foul line, 24 attempts with 17 makes. Tionna Baker from Dalton led all scorers with 22 points while Tiara Lewis had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Both are seniors, Baker having transferred from Hofstra University.

To fall behind by double figures early, Georgia College shot an abysmal 29% from the floor in the opening 10-minute quarter. Shorter capped the 10-0 run with an uncontested offensive rebound shot. Willis put the home team on the board first with a jumper in the lane assisted by Cail at 6:25.

Turnovers kept the Shorter score at bay for a stretch while the Lady Bobcats mounted a comeback. Among many GCSU newcomers, Deshona Gaither of Commerce penetrated the baseline on a second shot to get her team within six at 14-8.

Of those 24 free throws for Shorter, 11 came in the first quarter with seven makes. GCSU did not make a 3-point shot in the first. With a transition dish-off at the baseline, the Hawks were up 23-14 at the quarter’s end.

As horrid as the Lady Bobcat shooting was to begin that quarter, it was red hot to begin the second as DePetro sank two 3-pointers from the same corner spot with one assist from Willis. Willis also scored off a turnover, Warren put back DePetro’s penetration miss and Miracle Parker converted a Warren pass to tie the score 28-28.

That took up half the quarter, but it was as close as the Lady Bobcats would get prior to halftime. Despite Gaither’s put-back basket – which was only one of two for her team in the final five minutes – Shorter went into the break with a 36-32 lead.

The second half couldn’t have been more competitive, each team scoring the same amount, 28. Even with Warren beginning things with a put-back, Shorter maintained a four-point edge. That was until DePetro sank her third 3-pointer. Chandler Davis, another graduate transfer from Alpharetta, gave GCSU its first lead at 42-41 with three minutes left in the third period.

Shorter, however, always had an answer and scored the next two baskets in a row. Rose Bone, after missing all of the 2023-24 season, contributed in the second half with a block on defense, which led to two for DePetro on the other end.

Willis accounted for a lead change late in the third, but Shorter had the last say to stay in front 49-48 with 10 minutes still to play.

Georgia College’s biggest lead came in the fourth quarter, 55-51, on Gaither’s only 3-pointer of the night. The Hawks responded with a tying 4-0 run and stretched it to 8-1, 59-56, running the floor off a Bobcat miss.

Consecutive offensive rebound baskets by Warren and Parker put GCSU back in front with three minutes remaining, but it would be their final scoring as their last three shots missed the mark. Shorter also missed two from the floor, but got to the foul line with 25 seconds to play, made both, then earned two more at the 12-second mark.