Record Season Closes for Greenville

Record Season Closes for Greenville

The Greenville women's basketball team made their second appearance at the NCAA Division III national tournament and fell to George Fox 85-53 to end their record-setting season.

The Panthers fell behind 16-5 early, forcing them to call a timeout with 4:42 to go in the first quarter. Greenville clawed back into the game with a 13-7 run to make the score 23-18 with 49 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

George Fox ended the first quarter with a 26-18 advantage over Greenville.

In the second period, George Fox opened a 36-19 lead with 7:29 to play in the half, forcing Greenville to use its second of four timeouts. Greenville closed the half by outscoring GFU 16-14 but still trailed 50-35 at the intermission.

Morgan St. James paced Greenville with eight first-half points despite leaving the game in the second quarter with her third foul.

The Panthers hit a scoring drought leading to the third quarter media timeout, trailing 60-37 as GFU went on a 10-2 run.

Greenville ended the third quarter facing a 72-40 deficit.

The Panthers opened the fourth quarter with a 12-7 run to make the score 79-52 at the fourth quarter media timeout with 4:57 left in regulation, but GFU ended by scoring six of the final seven points for the victory.

Wesley Woodard ended her career with nine points to finish as Greenville's top scorer.

Turnovers and free throw shooting proved to be among Greenville's challenges as the Panthers had 29 giveaways and shot 16-of-27 for 59.3 percent from the free throw line.

The Panther defense forced George Fox into committing 19 turnovers, and Hannah Krukewitt and Morgan St. James each had two steals.

The Panthers (23-5) concluded their season with the best single-season record in program history, matching the high total for wins and establishing the top winning percentage, as the Greenville ended the year as SLIAC regular season and tournament champions.

This group of seniors ended their four-year career with an overall record of 88-29 with two NCAA appearances, two NCCAA national tournaments, including the 2017 NCCAA national championship.

STORY COURTESY OF GREENVILLE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION