Pensacola, Fla. – The Auburn Montgomery women's basketball team cut a 23-point deficit down to 10 with just under seven minutes left to play at West Florida on Sunday afternoon, but the Warhawks could not complete the comeback in a 72-51 loss.
 
NOTES
• AUM drops to 7-11 on the season and 3-8 in Gulf South Conference action.
• West Florida improves to 12-6, 7-4 in GSC play.
 
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Junior guard/forward Evelina Avleeva filled out the stat sheet with 12 points, nine rebounds, three steals, three blocks and a pair of assists.
• Freshman guard Makaylla Bullard led the offense with 14 points.
• For West Florida, Chloe Branch recorded a double-double with 28 points and 16 rebounds while Jade Davis posted seven assists.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Warhawks got themselves out of an early 8-2 hole with five-straight points via a layup from sophomore guard Regan Croff plus free throws from Avleeva and junior guard/forward Jemaiya Lee to make it a one-point contest at 8-7. The Argos responded with an 8-0 run, followed by a layup from Croff and triple from Avleeva to make it 16-12. UWF added a pair of baskets to their total before the quarter ended, while the Warhawks got a pair of free throws from Croff to make it 20-14.
• The hosts opened up the second quarter on an 11-3 run with AUM's three points coming off a triple from senior guard Shanna Strain to hold a 31-17 advantage. The Warhawks got baskets from Avleeva and Croff during the final three minutes of the half, but went into the intermission trailing 41-21.
• After surrendering a triple on West Florida's opening possession of the half, AUM used an 8-4 spurt with baskets from Avleeva, sophomore guard Aaliyah Milord and Bullard to bring the deficit under 20 at 48-29. The Argos responded with a triple, but an 11-3 run for the Warhawks with nine points from Bullard and a pair of free throws from senior guard Nadia Stewart made it 54-40 going into the final frame.
• The Warhawks continued chipping into the deficit in the final stanza, opening up with an 8-4 rally via a triple from Stewart, a jumper from Avleeva and a three-point play by freshman guard Jessika Milton to make it a 10-point contest at 58-48 with 6:49 remaining in the contest. UWF countered with a 14-0 retort that stretched until the final seconds of the contest when Bullard connected on a triple.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• The Warhawks converted on 18-50 shots, going 6-20 from three-point territory and 9-15 from the free throw line.
• UWF went 27-63 from the field, 8-17 from beyond the arc and 10-15 from the free throw line.
• UWF held a slim 28-25 advantage in points off the bench.
• The Warhawks dished out five assists versus 21 for West Florida.
• West Florida recorded 46 rebounds while the Warhawks pulled down 26.
• AUM committed 17 turnovers, resulting in 15 Argonauts' points. The hosts committed 15 turnovers, leading to 16 points.
• AUM recorded seven steals with five block while West Florida stole the ball eight times with three blocks.
 
QUOTING THE COACH
"We did not come out ready to play," head coach Dan Davis said. "You can't do that in this league, especially when you are playing a high-caliber team like West Florida. Defensively we were making mental mistakes which West Florida took advantage of. We responded well in the second half but we just ran out of gas in the fourth quarter and could not mount one final comeback. We did some good things today, we just could not get ourselves out of the hole we dug ourselves into in the first half."
 
UP NEXT
The women's basketball team hosts the University of Montevallo on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 6 p.m.
 
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