FLORENCE, Ala. (November 6, 2023) – The University of North Alabama women’s basketball team opened the 2023-24 season in dominant fashion, cruising to a 90-47 win over Tennessee Southern inside CB&S Bank Arena in Florence.
With the win, UNA starts 1-0 for the third straight season. The Lions also improve to 8-1 in the last nine home openers, dating back to 2016. UT Southern drops to 0-2.
The Lions started things with a 13-0 run and piled on from there, leading 26-4 at the end of the first quarter and 49-20 at the half. The Lions won every quarter and cruised in the second half, outscoring the Firehawks 41-27 to close it out.
Eleven Lions stuffed the stat sheet and four finished in double-figures, including 12 point games from senior Alexis Callins and sophomores Rhema Pegues and Emma Kate Tittle. Junior Olivia Jones added 11 on 4-5 shooting from the field.
Sophomore India Howard led with seven rebounds in 14 minutes of action, while senior Sara Wohlgemuth had a game-high six assists. True freshman Veronaye Charlton added five points and four assists in her UNA debut.
UT Southern was led by Iya Jones with 12 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER: The Lions took an early 3-0 lead on a triple from Rhema Pegues in the opening minute, but both teams went on a three-minute scoring drought. That drought quickly evaporated for UNA, as the Lions went on a 10-0 run over the span of 58 seconds to take command. The rest of the quarter was a 13-4 run over the final five minutes for the home team, led by Callins with eight points and Pegues and Tittle sinking a pair of triples.
SECOND QUARTER: UNA maintained a good pace in the second quarter, outscoring the Firehawks 23-16 to close the half. The two sides exchanged a pair of threes each way over the first three minutes of the quarter, as UT Southern did not back down. Those UNA threes came from sisters Emily and Olivia Jones, who are playing together as teammates for the first time at the collegiate level. The sisters combined for 11 points in the frame to lead the Lions.
THIRD QUARTER: UT Southern started the second half with a triple out the gate, but North Alabama reasserted dominance with a 7-0 run over 1:30 of game time and another 6-0 run before the media timeout to make it 62-26. The Lions stayed on pace with their steady shooting night, going 6-12 from the floor in the third frame.
FOURTH QUARTER: The Lions matched their shooting totals in the fourth quarter, going 6-12 once again to close things out. Seven different players scored in the final 10:00, including four points each from Callins and sophomore Alyssa Clutter. Meanwhile, the defense held UT Southern to a 29.4 percentage in the fourth quarter at 5-17 from the floor.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- The Lions went 27-54 from the field for an even 50 percent while limiting the opponent to 18-57 for 32 percent.
- UNA dominated the boards with a 42-28 advantage, including a 33-21 advantage on the defensive boards.
- The UNA bench contributed over half of the team’s points, finishing with 52 points compared to just nine from the UT Southern bench.
- The Lions scored 33 points on fast breaks, while limiting the Firehawks to just seven.
- The early stages saw the game tied for just 28 seconds before the opening three-pointer by Pegues. From there, UNA led the rest of the way.
- The Lions shot 77 percent from the free throw line, going 23-30 with frequent trips to the charity stripe. Meanwhile, UT Southern was just 7-14 at the line.
- Pegues, Clutter and Cameron Jones each recorded a block.
- Six — this is the number of free boneless wings that fans can retrieve at the Buffalo Wild Wings location in Florence after every UNA win with the purchase of six wings. Fans are encouraged to show their ticket or the social media graphic to retrieve the offer.
COMING UP NEXT
The Lions are back in action on Friday, Nov. 10 against Denver University inside CB&S Bank Arena at Flowers Hall. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. in Florence.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
