Women's Basketball Wins on Road Against Columbia

COLUMBIA, S.C.- The women's basketball traveled to play a game for the first time in 2024 on Wednesday. The schedule took the Lady Bulldogs to the state of South Carolina for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) game against the Columbia College Koalas. 

A layup by Jaci Powell along with a three-point basket and layup by Anna Crowder helped TWU lead 7-0 early on in the game. Crowder made the score 9-3 with a jump shot a few minutes later but with 5:58 remaining in the first quarter, Columbia had battled back to tie the game 9-9. Courtney Farr broke the tie with a three-point jumper and Abbey Barr extended the lead to 14-9 with a jumper. A layup by Farr and a pair of free throws by Alexis Bates helped the team lead 18-11 at the end of the first quarter. 

Cambree Mayo and Powell helped the team take their first double-digit lead of the game when the latter's layup made the score 22-11. With 4:17 remaining until halftime, Barr hit a three-point basket to move the score to 26-13. By halftime, the Lady Bulldogs were ahead 34-22, the last basket being a three-pointer by Farr.

After seeing the lead dip down to single digits, Mikalee Martin hit a three-point jump shot to push the lead back to double digits, making the score 39-27. A free throw by Barr gave the team their largest lead of the game, a margin of 16 points, with the scoreboard reading 45-29 with 1:23 left in the third quarter. The team led 45-31 heading into the fourth quarter. 

Crowder opened the scoring in the fourth quarter for the Lady Bulldogs and a three-pointer by Mayo put the team at the 50-point mark to give the team a 15-point advantage. With four minutes left in the game, Columbia had battled to cut the lead down to seven points. A pair of free throws by Powell kept the Koalas from pulling closer, and an Ella Crowder three-point basket with 1:27 left after Mayo's free throw pushed the team ahead 56-45. Barr made the score 59-45 with a three-point basket and TWU went on to win by a final score of 63-52.

Crowder led the team with 17 points Barr added 13 points and Mayo had 10 points. Powell had a career-high 10 rebounds in the win.

Up next for the Lady Bulldogs (6-6, 4-6 AAC) is a home game against Brenau University on Saturday. The conference game is set to begin at 2:00 p.m.