Gardner-Webb women survive scare, will face High Point in Big South final

Gardner-Webb came within an 8-foot jump shot of seeing a fabulous season go up in smoke Saturday.

A last-second Radford shot in regulation missed the mark, and Gardner-Webb responded to the scare by pulling away from the Highlanders in overtime, for an 89-81 Big South women’s semifinal victory at Bojangles Coliseum.

The top-seeded Bulldogs, who went 18-0 in the Big South regular season and entered the game with a 27-4 record, will face second seed High Point (17-13) in the championship game at 6 p.m. Sunday.

High Point advanced by trouncing third seed Campbell 69-50 in Saturday night’s second semifinal.

The Big South is not in a position to receive an NCAA tournament at-large berth, so Gardner-Webb must win the Big South title if it hopes to be playing for a national title later this month.

“Sometimes you can get complacent when you have a record like ours,” Bulldogs’ coach Alex Simmons said after Saturday’s victory. “You think the other team will lay down. Radford didn’t lay down.”

Rather, the Highlanders (14-17) led 26-21 after one quarter and built their lead to nine points in the second period. Gardner-Webb still trailed 67-59 entering the final period.

Big South Player of the Year Jhessyka Williams scored five straight points and brought the Bulldogs within 71-69 with 2:56 left. A Williams tip-in with 1:18 to play tied the game at 74.

Each team failed to score on possessions, and Radford had the ball for the final shot that missed.

In overtime, it was a different story.

Gardner-Webb raced to an 80-74 lead, although the Highlanders got within 83-81. The Bulldogs scored the game’s final six points.

Williams was off-target with her shot in the first half, so teammate Lauren Bevis stepped up.

Bevis finished with 29 points, mostly in the first half. Williams totaled 30, with 22 of those coming in the second half.

“On and off the court, we are sisters,” Bevis said of her relationship with Williams. “We’re sisters for life.”

“In the first half, Jess was struggling a little,” Bevis added. “I knew she’d come around, but until that happened, I did what I could.”

The victory put Gardner-Webb in its first Big South championship game since 2011, when the Bulldogs beat Liberty.

High Point advances

There was little drama in the second game, as High Point took control in the second quarter and pulled away from the Camels.

Campbell led 11-10 after one quarter, but High Point outscored the Camels 22-15 in the second period for a 32-26 halftime edge. The Panthers shot 28 percent from the floor in the first quarter but hit 50 percent in the second.

Senior guard Skyler Curran led High Point with 29 points, tying her season high. She added seven rebounds. Curran made four 3-pointers, bringing her career total to 304 – 12 off the Big South career record.

Christabel Ezumah led Campbell with 11 points.

The Panthers finished with 45 percent shooting from the floor, while Campbell hit only 31 percent.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle