Dahlonega, Georgia – If handling adversity is the mark of a really good team, the West Georgia Wolves may have made such a mark here Saturday. West Georgia shook off the sting of back-to-back defeats to top a strong North Georgia team on its home court, 82-71, in the finale of the X-trem Classic at Memorial Hall.
“The way we played yesterday,” said coach
Craig Roden, “I didn’t know if we could get these folks in their own building. They don’t lose very many in here.”
Roden was reflecting Friday’s loss to Carson-Newman, and talking of the powerful program Buffie Burson has built at North Georgia. However, on this day, West Georgia was the dominant team.
The Wolves took control of this one early, jumping to a lead of as many as 20 in the first half. The duo of
Dominic Cranford and
Ashley Huff combined for 29 first half points as UWG carried a 51-33 lead into the halftime locker room.
West Georgia stretched their margin to 25 on two occasions early in the second half. However, North Georgia rallied to twice cut their deficit to seven. However, UWG hit its free throws down the stretch to come home with the 11-point win.
Cranford paced the Wolves with a 27-point performance, followed by 21 from Huff and 11 from Renate Lopez. Cranford also had five steals as the Wolves totaled 15 for the afternoon. Whitney Randolph had 17 points to lead North Georgia.
West Georgia shot the ball very well vs. the Lady Saints. The Wolves were 30-of-49 from the field, a blistering 63.3% total. In contrast, North Georgia hit 22-of-49, a 44.9% total.
The win pushed the 21st ranked Wolves to 4-2 on the season. North Georgia fell to 3-2.
UWG returns to action Tuesday night with a visit to Division I Jacksonville State. Tip time is 8:00 from Mathews Coliseum on the JSU campus.