PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke women's basketball team used 19 points from its bench and dominated the inside with 28 points in the paint to secure a 59-51 victory over Georgia College in overtime in the Peach Belt Conference opener for both teams on Sunday afternoon at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.  
 
The Braves (6-3, 1-0 PBC) won their conference opener for the second-straight year, while also staying perfect through three games this season at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. It was the third loss in the last five outings for Georgia College (3-6, 0-1), who had their two-game series road win streak snapped in the process as well.



 

THE BASICS

Score: UNC Pembroke 59, Georgia College 51 Records: UNC Pembroke 6-3, 1-0 PBC; Georgia College 3-6, 0-1 PBC Location: Pembroke, N.C. (Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

UNC Pembroke connected on five of its first seven attempts and jumped out to an early 11-0 lead before Georgia College's Harper Vick scored the next five points to get the Bobcats back in it. The Bobcats, however, converted on just one of their last four attempts from the field in the period to fuel a quarter-closing 12-3 run by the hosts that gave them a 23-8 advantage at the buzzer.

2ND QUARTER

The Black & Gold shot better than 50 percent in the second quarter and took their largest lead of the afternoon, 28-10 off of a 3-pointer from Alcenia Purnell with 6:48 remaining in the half. Georgia College trimmed its deficit back to single digits, 28-19, off of a Harper Vick layup at the 2:39 mark but the hosts scored the last four points of the half and headed into the locker rooms with a 32-19 lead.

3RD QUARTER

Georgia College scored the first two buckets of the second half to pull within nine points, 32-23, but Aliyah Farmer stretched the lead back out to double-digits with a layup at the 7:53 mark. A trey from the Bobcats' Carolina Wysocki made it a two-possession game, 36-30, with just over three minutes remaining in the quarter.

4TH QUARTER

Georgia College limited the hosts to just 16 percent field goal shooting from the field in the final quarter of regulation and used a layup from Harper Vick at the 2:45 mark to trim the deficit back to 45-40. Harper knocked down a trey with four ticks remaining to knot the score at 47 apiece.

OVERTIME

UNCP held Georgia College to 0-for-5 shooting in overtime and took the lead for good, 53-51, on a layup from Tee Graham with two minutes left to play. The visitors turned the ball over three times in the extra period, and managed just four points from the free throw line.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Senior Tee Graham scored a team-high 16 points. She also added three steals, four rebounds and a pair of assists. + Freshman Alcenia Purnell scored a career-high 15 points on 6-for-16 shooting, while also logging five boards. + Aliyah Farmer added 10 points and six rebounds.

NOTABLES

+ UNCP held the lead for more than 42 minutes (42:09), and did not trail in Sunday's contest. The game was tied for the remaining 2:51. + The Black & Gold dominated inside with 28 points in the paint. The Braves also posted a 45-41 advantage in the rebounding column. + The Braves held the Bobcats to just 27.5 percent shooting on the day. It is the seventh time this season that UNCP has held a team to sub-37 percent shooting. + UNCP is 3-0 at home for just the fourth time in 15 seasons under head coach John Haskins. It is the first time the Braves have won their first three home outings since the 2015-16 campaign. + Sunday's win marked the largest margin of victory for either side in the series since a 71-51 win by the Braves on Jan. 6, 2017. The last four series matchups heading into Sunday had been decided by a combined eight points.

UP NEXT

The Braves will welcome Clayton State (4-4, 0-0 PBC) to Pembroke on Thursday for Education Day. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will follow an 11 a.m. contest between the men's teams from both schools.

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JOIN THE BRAVES CLUB

Fans can help support the UNC Pembroke Women's Basketball program by joining the Braves Club. To find out more information about the Braves Club, visit UNCPBraves.com/BravesClub or email braves.club@uncp.edu.