PENSACOLA, Fla. – Despite leading by 11 in the fourth quarter, the Auburn University at Montgomery women's basketball team held on by two points to secure a thrilling road Gulf South Conference victory over West Florida on Thursday night.

NOTES
- The Warhawks improve their record to 10-8 on the year and secure their third GSC win.   
- West Florida falls to 5-14 on the season and now stand at 1-10 in conference play.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Catlin Carter led the team in points with 21, her fourth 20-point game of the season.
- Jemaiya Lee tallied a team-high nine rebounds.
- Makaylla Bullard helped on four scores in the win.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- It took a minute and 45 seconds before either team registered a point to begin the game, but the scoreless streak was broken by a pair of Carter free throws. However, her two points were matched on the next possession as UWF tied the game at two. The two teams traded baskets after the early lack of scoring, as the game found itself tied at six with 4:05 remaining in the first. Roni Richardson would break a three-minute scoreless streak for the Orange & Black with a layup at the two-minute mark in the first to extend the AUM lead to 8-6. West Florida took their first lead of the game with 35 seconds remaining on a jump shot from the free throw line, but a buzzer beater from Victoria Morales tied the game at 10 heading into the second quarter.
- Morales continued her scoring to begin the second quarter as she knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Warhawks a three-point lead. West Florida would answer on the ensuing drive with a three-point play to tie the game. The Argos would secure their fifth-straight point with another midrange jumper to take a two-point lead two minutes into the second period. AUM and UWF traded baskets on the next two possessions to run the score to 17 a piece. Jordan Brewster broke the scoreless drought and capped off a quick 5-0 run to force a West Florida timeout with just over five minutes to go in the second. The Argos netted a basket to end the quick streak, but a turnaround jump shot from Kendra Boone answered the UWF bucket. The Orange & Black would go scoreless for over three minutes until a Bullard layup brought the game to 24-23 in favor of AUM with a minute remaining in the half. Late free throws propelled West Florida to a 25-24 lead into the halftime break.
- Defense stood strong for the Orange & Black to begin the second half, which allowed for Brewster to knock down a 3-pointer in transition to take a two-point lead early in the third quarter. Despite getting two looks from deep, the Argos could not convert as Carter would grab the rebound and go coast to coast to convert a three-point play to extend the lead to five. West Florida, however, hit their first 3-pointer on the next possession to cut the Warhawk lead to one. Thought he slick-shooting Carter hit her sixth point of the second half on a triple to regain the stronghold. Second-chance points would allow West Florida to creep back into the game but the Warhawks would lead 36-32 heading into the first official timeout. Boone scored the first points after the timeout, but the Argos answered with a layup on the other end to keep their deficit at five. Morales extended the Orange & Black lead to eight with a 3-pointer from the top of the key which was the largest lead for the Warhawks at this point in the game. The Argos ended the 9-2 AUM run with a 3-pointer right in front of the West Florida bench to cut the deficit to five and the score would stand at 42-37 at the end of the third.   
- The Argos netted a 3-pointer in the opening moments of the fourth quarter to bring the Warhawk lead to 42-40. Five-straight points from Carter allowed the Warhawks to regain their seven-point lead with eight minutes remaining in the fourth. The teams traded 3-pointers in the middle portion of the fourth quarter, including two by Carter and one by Brewster and it resulted in the Orange & Black leading 53-45. Brewster was able to push the AUM lead to a game-high 11 points with a 3-pointer from way downtown to force a West Florida timeout. A quick four points from the Argos cut the AUM lead to 56-49, but a turnaround jumper from Lee ran the lead back to nine. West Florida cut the lead down to four with two minutes remaining, but a basket from Lee would push the game back to 60-54. Neither side would register a bucket for the next minute, as AUM would call a timeout with 55 seconds remaining in the fourth. The Argos were able to cut the lead down to three and gain possession with 21 seconds left in the fourth after AUM had trouble inbounding the ball. West Florida would find themselves at the free-throw line and would cut the lead to 61-59. Morales would go to the line in a two-point game with six seconds remaining but missed both free throws. An unorganized West Florida took the ball up the court and had to take a half-court shot to win, but the shot did not hit the rim and the Orange & Black would escape with a 63-61 win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- AUM went 22-53 from the field to shoot 41.5% overall.
- The Warhawks shot 36% from 3-point land.
- The Orange & Black were 10-16 from the charity stripe.
- West Florida out-rebounded AUM 39-35.

QUOTING THE COACH
"I'm extremely proud of this team. It is very hard to win in the GSC, especially on the road. That is half the job done, now off to Valdosta State to finish it off."

UP NEXT
AUM will continue their road trip on Saturday when they travel to Valdosta, Ga., to face the Valdosta State Lady Blazers in Gulf South Conference action. The game from The Complex is set to begin at 1 p.m.           

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