JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (December 12, 2020) – The Webber International University women's basketball team remained unbeaten on the road so far during the 2020-21 season following a low-scoring 48-43 victory that came down to the final few minutes at Edward Waters College on Saturday afternoon.
Down only one point at 33-32 entering the fourth quarter, the Warriors went ahead 34-33 with two free throws by
Paris Copeland on the first possession of the period.
After the Tigers answered with a 3-pointer, Copeland scored again to tie the game at 36-36 with eight minutes left, and then Webber tied it again at 38-38 on a bucket by
Amaya Small with just under five and a half minutes to go.
A free throw by
Dasia Wandick put the Warriors ahead 39-38 with 4:41 remaining, and then after an offensive rebound and score for the Tigers,
Thalia Jackson put Webber ahead by one again at 41-40 with a score with under four minutes to go.
Then with just over three minutes left, another offensive rebound for Edward Waters led to a 3-pointer for the Tigers to put the home team up by two at 43-41.
That would, however, be the last points of the game for Edward Waters as from there, Wandick answered with a huge 3-pointer of her own to put Webber up for good at 44-43 with 2:42 remaining.
With just over two minutes left, Small scored again on an offensive rebound to put Webber up by three at 46-43; and then with only 11.2 seconds left, yet another offensive rebound and score, this time by Jackson, made it a two-possession game to help seal the tough road win for the Warriors.
Copeland scored a game-high 17 points and added eight rebounds to lead the Warriors, and Small had 10 points while finishing with eight boards as well.
Wandick finished with nine points on two 3-pointers while also adding six rebounds, and
LeAndra Franklin had seven points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Earlier in the contest, Webber led 4-0 on a layup by Small to open the game, followed by a Tigers' turnover and ensuing layup by Franklin. The Warriors then led 10-6 before a 7-0 Tigers' run put Edward Waters ahead 13-10 with just under two minutes left in the first quarter.
After a midrange jumper by Copeland put Webber behind two at 15-13 early in the second quarter, the Warriors then trailed by as much as eight points at 21-13 with 5:50 left before halftime before getting back to within one at the break down 23-22 on the first 3-pointer of the game by Wandick.
The Warriors' defense held Edward Waters to only 25.7 percent shooting in the first half, and was then even better in the second half, limiting the Tigers to only 19.4 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes of the game.
The third quarter featured four lead changes before Webber found itself behind by seven at 33-26 following an 8-0 run for Edward Waters with under three minutes left in the period. Fortunately, Webber scored six straight to close out the quarter and make it only a one-point game again at 33-32 entering the final 10 minutes.
With the win, Webber improved to 7-2 overall, 4-0 on the road and 4-1 against nonconference opponents so far on the season while also breaking its five-game losing streak against the Tigers dating back to the 2017-18 season. Edward Waters (0-1), meanwhile, fell in what was its 2020-21 season opener.
Next up for the Warriors will be their second and final exhibition game of the season as Webber plays at NCAA Division-I Florida Gulf Coast University at 7 p.m. on Thursday, December 17, in Fort Myers, Florida.
Â
