ROME, Ga. – The Auburn Montgomery women's basketball team won its first Gulf South Conference game in program history on Saturday afternoon, withstanding a late Shorter rally for a 54-49 triumph on the road.
NOTES
• AUM improves to 4-3 on the season, 1-1 in Gulf South Conference play.
• Shorter drops to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in league action.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Junior guard/forward
Evelina Avleeva filled out the stat sheet with 19 points, seven rebounds, five steals, four assists and a block.
• Freshman guard
Makaylla Bullard chipped in a career-high 11 points, going 3-3 from beyond the arc.
• Redshirt-sophomore center
Bailee Wolfe grabbed a game-high eight rebounds to go with three blocks, tied for the fourth-most in a game by an individual in the Gulf South Conference this season.
• For Shorter, Denise Newton scored 12 points while Jackie Hudson pulled down seven boards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• AUM got on the scoreboard first off a jumper from junior guard/forward
Jemaiya Lee, but a triple and jumper by the hosts put them ahead 5-2. Back-to-back jumpers from Lee and sophomore guard
Aaliyah Milord put the Warhawks up 6-5 before another Shorter three-pointer created an 8-6 edge. AUM ended the quarter on an 11-0 run with four different Warhawks scoring during the spree to lead 17-8.
• Shorter ended AUM's streak on the first possession of the second quarter with a triple, adding a free throw to their rally before a jump shot from Bullard recreated a seven-point cushion at 19-12. AUM created its first double-digit lead late in the frame off a triple from Avleeva to make it 26-16, only for a Shorter layup before the end of the half making it 26-18 at the intermission.
• AUM recreated the double-digit lead with a three-pointer from Avleeva, who scored 13 of the Warhawks' 19 points in the quarter, after a made Shorter free throw to make it 29-19. The Warhawks extended the lead to 12 off a layup from senior guard
Kyla Rooks before three-straight baskets for Shorter cut the separation to six at 31-25. Avleeva ended the run with another triple to make it 34-25, scoring her final basket from beyond the arc of the quarter nearly three minutes later to keep the separation at nine, 39-30. The Yekaterinburg, Russia native ended the quarter with a pair of layups in the final minute, giving the Warhawks a 45-33 lead going into the final 10 minutes.
• The Warhawks began the final frame on a 6-2 run to take a game-high 16-point advantage at 51-35. Shorter responded with a 14-0 run to make it a two-point game at 51-49 with 1:32 remaining before a triple from Bullard with 31 seconds left made it 54-49.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• The Warhawks converted on 22-45 shots, including 10-22 from three-point territory.
• Shorter finished 17-55 from the field, 6-21 from distance and 9-14 from the free throw line.
• AUM scored 18 points in the paint versus 12 for the hosts.
• AUM committed 22 turnovers, resulting in 20 Shorter points. The Hawks committed 16 turnovers, leading to 21 points.
• AUM held a 35-40 advantage in rebounds.
• AUM dished out 17 assists, Shorter had 12
• AUM recorded nine steals with five blocks while Shorter stole the ball six times with no blocks.
UP NEXT
The women's basketball team takes a hiatus from Gulf South Conference play, taking on Samford on Saturday, Dec. 9 in an exhibition bout.
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