BABSON PARK, Fla. (December 3, 2020) – In a battle of two undefeated teams during The Sun Conference Game of the Week, the Webber International University women's basketball team fell for the first time during the 2020-21 season, dropping a close game against St. Thomas University, 77-73, on Thursday evening inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center.
The Warriors were led in scoring by
Paris Copeland with 21 points on 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point range while
Amaya Small added 17 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.
Dasia Wandick scored 12 points, and
Rushell Jacob had a new career-high in points with nine.
After shooting 47.06 percent in the first quarter and 52.94 percent in the second quarter, the Warriors were held to below 32 percent in both the third and fourth quarters. St. Thomas, meanwhile, shot 66.67 percent in the first quarter, 46.15 percent in the third and 53.85 percent in the fourth.
The largest lead of the game for either team came in the first quarter when St. Thomas led by 10 twice.
In the second quarter, Webber took its first lead of the game at 34-32 after two free throws by Small with 3:28 to go before halftime.
The Warriors' largest lead of the game was at 39-36 after a layup by
Paulette Burke with a minute to go before the break, and then Webber led by only one at halftime at 39-38.
A layup by Small less than a minute into the third quarter put Webber ahead for the last time in the game (up 41-40). From there, the Bobcats scored six straight to go ahead by five and ultimately led it by three at 55-52 after three quarters.
In the final minute, Webber got to within three points of St. Thomas twice, first at 73-70 with 41 seconds left after two free throws by Copeland, and then again at 76-73 with 16 seconds to go after a three by Copeland. From there, St. Thomas hit the second of two free throw attempts to make it a two-score game at 77-73 with 11 seconds remaining, and two missed 3-pointers by the Warriors in the final four seconds was all she wrote.
Despite the ending, Webber took advantage of 25 Bobcat turnovers and outscored St. Thomas 31-9 in points off turnovers and 18-8 in fast break points.
With its first loss of the year, Webber fell to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in The Sun Conference while St. Thomas remained undefeated at 4-0 and 2-0.
Webber will return to action in only two days, traveling South to play the other team in The Sun Conference from Miami Gardens, Florida, Florida Memorial University. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 5. It will be a rematch from last season's TSC quarterfinal game when the Warriors defeated the Lady Lions 74-70 in Babson Park, Florida.
