BUCKHANNON, W. Va. – Sylvia Hudson's putback at the buzzer knocked off West Virginia Wesleyan 82-80 inside the Rockefeller Center Wednesday night as Urbana University women's basketball snapped its two-game losing streak.
Urbana improved to 6-4 overall and 3-2 in league play while Wesleyan fell to 3-6 (1-4 MEC) on the season. UU overcame a 16-point deficit, its largest comeback victory since Feb. 8, 2018, when the Blue Knights erased a 19-point deficit also against West Virginia Wesleyan, which was the most recent win over the Bobcats before Wednesday. Urbana now leads the all-time series 9-5.
Tyra James led Urbana with 28 points on 13-of-20 shooting along with six rebounds, five assists and five steals. Hudson finished with 20 points and eight boards, while playing the final 2:50 with four fouls.
Bailey Draughn went 3 for 5 from beyond the arc and finished with 13 points.
Weston Minnich also hit three treys, tying her career single-game high, while chipping in with nine points.
Trailing 25-9 at the end of the first quarter following a 3-for-15 (20%) shooting effort to start the game, the Blue Knights caught fire and opened the second period on a 13-0 run.
Wesleyan's Brittany Stawovy, who scored a game-high 31 points, knocked down 4 of 4 three-point attempts in the first quarter to spark the Bobcats. Stawovy and Urbana's James each played the entire 40 minutes to lead their squads.
Urbana's big run in the second quarter was keyed by James, who scored 10 points in the period, along with big three-point makes by
Kami McEldowney and Minnich. A James layup with 3:26 until halftime sliced the deficit to one, 36-35, but the Bobcats held on for a five-point lead at the break, 44-39.
The Blue Knights kept climbing back and eventually grabbed its first lead since the beginning of the game at the seven-minute mark in the third quarter. Draughn drilled a trey to tie the game and James finished a fastbreak layup off a McEldowney steal to put Urbana in front, 50-48.
The lead was short-lived though, as the Bobcats took advantage of missed shots and pieced together an 11-0 run to go back in front by double digits. However, near the end of the quarter, the Blue Knights were able to get it back down to single digits and trailed 66-57 entering the fourth.
Then, Urbana got back within three after an 8-2 spurt over the first two minutes of the fourth frame. Clutch, back-to-back threes from
Alivia Koenig and Draughn made it 68-65 with eight minutes remaining. Wesleyan kept fending off the Blue Knights, staying in the lead for much of the final quarter, but eventually the Hudson-James duo wore down the Bobcats.
With just over two minutes, Hudson's free throws made it a two-point game and then a Bobcats turnover led to a James jumper to tie the game at 77-77. After the teams exchanged empty possessions, Hudson converted a three-point play to give Urbana the lead with 1:31.
But Wesleyan found its go-to shooter in Stawovy who immediately answered with her sixth three on the night and the score was knotted again with under a minute remaining, 80-80.
Urbana missed a shot attempt with 49 seconds, but Wesleyan turned it over again on a crucial mistake with 18 seconds left to hand Urbana the last shot.
On the final possession, the Blue Knights fed Hudson in the post and she missed a turnaround jumper but was able to pull down the rebound and kiss the putback off the glass before the buzzer sounded.
Stawovy finished 6 of 8 from three-point range and 9-for-16 shooting overall to pace Wesleyan. The junior guard also grabbed nine boards and handed out four assists. Cierra Tolbert scored 13 points and Nicole Gilyard had 11 for the Bobcats.
Overall the teams were close in shooting percentage. However, Urbana finished 9 of 14 (64%) in the fourth quarter to power the comeback. Urbana was outrebounded by a large margin, 38-23, but was able to stay in the game by tying its season-low in turnovers with just 10. The Blue Knights forced 21 Bobcat turnovers.
UP NEXT: Urbana returns home Saturday to host Davis & Elkins (1-7, 1-3 MEC) at 2 p.m. ET. The MEC newcomers will play Notre Dame College tomorrow night.
