by Matt Cooke
The UWG men's and women's basketball squads punched their ticket for Birmingham and the 2015 VisitSpaceCoast.com GSC Tournament Semifinals on Tuesday, March 3, and West Georgia fans can save 30% on tickets to Friday's semifinals by purchasing online through the Gulf South Conference ticket website at www.gscsports.org/tickets. The UWG women will play at 1 p.m. (EST) on Friday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center on the campus of Samford University, while the men will play at 8:30 p.m.
The West Georgia women, who entered the GSC tournament Tuesday as the fourth seed, opened the night with a 72-55 victory over 5th-seeded North Alabama. Senior and First Team All-GSC performer Taylor Beverly continued to set UWG records with her 18th double-double of the year, scoring 19 points and pulling down a season-high 20 rebounds. Freshman Aysha Harris had her best night in a UWG uniform, also scoring 19 points in the Wolves' double-digit victory over the Lions. The win moves UWG into Friday's semifinals, where the Wolves will take on the top-seeded Union Bulldogs at 1 p.m.
In their nineteenth conference tournament appearance, the UWG women won for the 10th time in tournament history and will advance to their tenth semifinal appearance. West Georgia last won the GSC Championship in 1994.
In the evening session Tuesday, the Wolves, who earned a share of the 2015 regular season championship and were the second seed coming into the tourney, dismissed 7th-seeded Christian Brothers from the competition with a 74-56 victory at The Coliseum. Deonta Stocks had 18 points, Marcus Dortch added 13 and Emory Bernard had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Wolves to victory. The UWG men will now have a rematch from the regular season finale, taking on third-seed West Alabama at 8:30 p.m. on Friday in the 2015 VisitSpaceCoast.com GSC Tournament Semifinals.
The win advanced head coach Michael Cooney and the Wolves to their 12th semifinal appearance in its 23 overall appearances. UWG has won two championships: first in 1987 and most recently in 2002.
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